


Demons Will Charm You

by ComingandGoingByBubble



Category: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder - Lutvak/Freedman
Genre: Dracula - Freeform, F/F, F/M, vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-06-04 07:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 25,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6647698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComingandGoingByBubble/pseuds/ComingandGoingByBubble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sibella is presumed dead after she falls ill with a mysterious illness, but Monty and Phoebe soon find out the truth that Sibella is not dead but instead she is a vampire. Loosely based off of Dracula.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

The first thing he saw was the roses as he walked up to the ceremony. He stiffened at the sight of it, not because he didn’t like the roses, but because they reminded him overwhelmingly of Sibella.

Tears pricked at his eyes as he took in the beautiful array of colors of the roses. They were varying shades of crimson, pink, and white, and Monty couldn’t have picked out the colors any better.

He bit his lip as he glanced at the flowers surrounding the coffin, feeling himself become terribly upset and devastated again just like he had been when he had first heard the news.

  “It was such a shock,” he heard someone around himself and Phoebe remark. “She just died so suddenly.”

Monty felt a lump in his throat begin to form. He couldn’t stand it, the thought of Sibella being dead. The thought of his Sibella forever lying in a coffin, cold and pale. It was too much, too painful.

Phoebe took his hand gently, and without a word led him to a pew where they both sat down silently. The brunette kept her gloved hand clasped over his tightly, letting him know that she was there for him.

Monty’s eyes drifted around the church, seeing all of these high society people flitter in and out of his gaze. He barely recognized any of them… He wondered if any of them really cared about Sibella, or if they were just here for the publicity and for the gossip, and to spread vicious rumors about the blonde now that she was dead. They looked like crows, dressed in all black, scourging the dead for any last bit of meat they could take from them.

He hated the lot of them at that moment.

Phoebe noticed that he was silent and brooding with anger, and she kissed his cheek gently, her brown eyes looking at him sympathetically, her entire being radiating pity and sadness.

She knew, and she alone knew, how much of a toll this was taking on him, how devastated he was at Sibella’s passing.

He loved Phoebe for her devotion, for her compassion. She didn’t have a mean or hurtful bone in her body and he loved her even more for that. She was always able to put her own feelings aside in order to comfort others.

Monty knew deep down she was hurting just as much as Monty was. She had loved Sibella too.

They both had loved her.

This was a shock to both of them. When the news had arrived Thursday by way of the morning post, Monty had been stunned into silence and a feeling of numbness. When he had called the Holland residence to confirm what he thought had been a horrible joke, he was informed by Lionel himself that Sibella had died suddenly of a mysterious illness.  Monty hung up on him abruptly after that, and neither him nor Phoebe left the house that day.

Now, here at the funeral, it was all becoming real for Monty and for Phoebe. Phoebe, bless her heart, was being strong for him and he could never thank her enough for that.

 “Well, isn’t it the Earl of Highhurst,” the remark from Lionel was enough to pull Monty out of his thoughts.

He blinked and looked up at the man. He stood, though he felt like he was moving robotically.

  “Mr. Holland,” he said stiffly, looking at Lionel with contempt. “My condolences.”

Lionel nodded, “Thank you.” He paused. “Would you care to take a walk with me for a moment, Mr. Navarro?” He asked him.

Monty swallowed, feeling as though he couldn’t refuse.

He nodded and stood, leaving Phoebe in the pew. She caught his eye as he started walking and she bit her lip, wondering what would transpire between the two men, though she had a clear idea anyways.

Both Lionel and Monty were quiet as they walked around the church until Lionel finally began to speak.

  “My wife was very fond of you,” he said softly, “Some may say she was too fond of you… some would have thought that you were her husband rather than me the way she talked about you.”

Monty took a sharp intake of breath, he knew Lionel was baiting him and he couldn’t resist taking it and running with it.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the impression she gave, seeing as you weren’t the greatest husband to her either way.”

Lionel’s face fell and it turned angry and harsh.

  “At least I was her husband,” he shot back in a low, cold voice.

Monty felt, in that moment, that he could snap Lionel’s neck and he would be doing the world a favor by doing so.

  “She never loved you,” Monty spat at him, his voice rising just a bit so that people were starting to pay attention to them.

  “And yet she was my wife, not yours,” countered Lionel.

There was a pause.

  “You should have died instead of her,” Monty uttered darkly, a murderous glare in his eyes.

Lionel opened his mouth to say more when Phoebe suddenly came up to them and laced her arm through Monty’s delicately.

She put on her sweetest smile for Lionel, and leaned her head on Monty’s shoulder gently.

  “Monty, I believe the Earl of Grantham wants to see you,” she told him, an obvious lie, but he nodded nonetheless and followed her away from Lionel.

They walked away from Mr. Holland and suddenly found themselves near the front of the church where the casket was. Monty felt Phoebe’s grip tighten on his arm, and he heard her sigh in sadness.

  “I miss her,” she said quietly, glancing at him.

He looked at her and kissed her lips. “So do I.”

His eyes then glanced at the casket and he froze.

Sibella looked so beautiful, too beautiful to be dead. For a second, he feared that Lionel was going to bury her alive, she looked so fresh, so radiant. He stared at her… at her perfectly curled hair that lay around her head and across her shoulders, at her soft red lips, at her pale smooth skin.

  “She looks so pretty,” remarked Phoebe softly looking at her.

He nodded solemnly. “She looks beautiful,” he said as his eyes grazed over Sibella’s body, taking in her cold, still form. He was glad that she was dressed in a pink gown. She would have liked that.  He smiled at the thought of her being glad that it was a pink gown instead of some other color.

Monty bent down and kissed her cold lips gently, “I’ve always loved you, and I always will love you,” he whispered.

Phoebe squeezed his hand afterwards, “We should move to let others come and pay their respects,” she told him.

He nodded, leaving a lingering glance at Sibella before turning away to move.

Just as they were about to move, an older man moved up to the casket when he suddenly gasped and hissed.

Monty, hearing the strange sound escape from the man’s lips, turned and saw that the old man was crossing himself and muttering something under his breath. Phoebe turned as well and frowned.

  “Sign of the devil that is,” muttered the old man in some foreign accent Monty could not place, looking at Sibella, “Sign of the devil…”

Monty peered at the old man, and asked him. “Excuse me sir, is something the matter?”

The old man turned and looked at him.

  “Don’t you see that?” he said pointing to Sibella, more specifically her throat. “It’s the sign the devil’s been to her.”

Monty scrunched up his face trying to figure out what in the world the old man was talking about when he saw it.

On her throat were two puncture marks, almost like teeth marks.  Monty couldn’t believe he didn’t see them before. They were small, almost fading but they were still there.

  “I-I don’t understand,” said Monty looking up at the old man.

The old man began to laugh, his stomach shaking but his face was serious.

  “’Course you don’t understand, you fools know nothing,” he said harshly, his voice losing its humorous quality.

He looked at Monty and Phoebe seriously and sternly before he looked at Sibella’s throat once more, and pointed to the marks on her neck.

  “That… that is the mark of the Undead,” he told Monty.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

  “I thought you were dead,” he whispered.

Sibella stood before him in the bedroom, shining in the moonlight, her skin glittering like stars. He sat up in the bed, wondering if he was dreaming.

  “I was there at your funeral, I watched them bury you,” he told her softly but Sibella didn’t say a word.

She looked different, though Monty couldn’t put a finger on what it was that was unsettling about her.

She still looked beautiful. Almost heavenly.

She walked over to the bed slowly as he took in her beauty, her pink dress causing her complexion to look paler than usual.

Her eyes looked sharper, with something dangerous glinting in them. Her movements were quicker too, almost too fast. Her skin was still sparkling even though she had moved out of the moonlight.

The fact that she was silent was startling to him. He half expected her to come running into his arms, crying out his name in happiness. Instead she was taciturn and strangely quiet.

He glanced over at the spot where Phoebe should be and he found it empty. For a moment, he wondered where she was but then Sibella took his hand.

He nearly jumped, her skin was freezing to the touch.

Even still, he smiled at her, “I love you so much.”

She glanced at him and smiled at him, showing him her teeth. They weren’t normal, regular teeth… her teeth had turned into fangs.

Monty bit his lip in fear as her grip on his hand turned into a crushing force, and he saw her eyes turn lustful.

She grinned at him, a terrifying, wicked smile and Monty was afraid.

Just as she was about to lean in and open her mouth to bite him-

Monty woke up, sweating, his heart pounding.

  “Monty, it was just a dream,” Phoebe was telling him as he looked around and sat up, still panting heavily.

  “I thought-I thought she was here, that she was part of the Undead and that she was going to bite me,” he stammered.

  “Monty it was just a nightmare, it wasn’t real,” said Phoebe kissing his cheek and trying to calm him down. She took his hand in hers and he kissed her hand gratefully.

  “I know,” he said at last, “It just seemed so real… I guess I was just thinking about what that old man said at her funeral.”

 “Monty, that man was crazy,” reasoned Phoebe. “What he said couldn’t possibly be true.”

  “Then how do you explain the marks on Sibella’s throat?” he asked her.

Phoebe sighed. “I don’t know, Monty but it’s definitely not because she’s turned into the Undead.”

He sighed, nodding. “I guess you’re right. I’m sorry… I just miss her,” he said softly.

Her eyes glanced up to him. “I know,” she gripped his hand tightly. “I know. I miss her too.”

  “I should have been there for her, I didn’t even know she was sick,” he mused quietly.

  “I know,” Phoebe said kissing his cheek, “We had just seen her two weeks before and she seemed fine.”

Monty fell silent.

  “What if this is my fault?”

Phoebe turned, “Monty, her death is not your fault. She was just sick, you couldn’t have done anything.”

  “She just died so suddenly,” he whispered thinking on how the blonde had come to Highhurst for the last time and they had all taken a walk in the gardens. She had seemed happy, fine. She had been discussing with Monty and Phoebe her plans to go abroad. Sibella had had things going for her, events to look forward to.

  “It was so cruel to have her taken from us,” he muttered.

Phoebe kissed him. “It was…. But she’s gone now, Monty, and we have to live with that.”

  “I’m glad I still have you,” he said kissing her back gently.

Phoebe smiled and brushed a lock of dark hair out of her face, looking bright and youthful.

She kissed him again, “Let’s try and go back to sleep,” she advised him.

Monty nodded and soon they both fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

In the morning, Monty woke up before Phoebe, and went downstairs to eat some breakfast.

A servant brought him the newspaper as he sat down to eat at the dining room table. Monty opened it up as he sipped on his tea.

His eyes glanced over the page before a certain column caught his eye.

LIONEL HOLLAND FOUND DEAD IN HOME

Just as he finished reading the column about Lionel’s unexpected death that had occurred yesterday, just five days after Sibella’s death, Phoebe came down from the bedroom.

  “Lionel Holland is dead,” stated Monty.

Phoebe paused as she went to take her seat at the table, “What?” she asked in a surprised tone.

 Monty nodded, “He’s dead. The police don’t suspect foul play, but they think it was either from old age or shock. He died yesterday evening.”

  “I’m surprised,” she said as she took the paper from him to read the article, “I wonder what killed him.”

  “It doesn’t matter, I’m just disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to kill himself,” muttered Monty bitterly.

  “Monty, don’t say such things at the breakfast table!” Phoebe scolded him.

He frowned and took back the paper from her, looking over it once more before folding it up again and placing it on the table.

 “He was an awful husband to her,” he remarked quietly. “He didn’t deserve her.”

  Phoebe reached across the table and took his hand gently, kissing it softly.

  “Let it go, Monty. It’s not like you can change the past,” she reminded him in a quiet, yet understanding voice. “Don’t go on making yourself upset about things you can’t change. They’re both gone now, and there is nothing left to be done.”

Monty grew silent and at last he nodded, kissing her hand before he got up to go into his parlor room.

Phoebe watched him walk away before she took the newspaper off the table and threw it into the fire, wanting to destroy it so that Monty wouldn’t look at it again.

She then went into the parlor where Monty was sitting in his chair silently. She sat down next to him in her own chair, and absentmindedly picked up her book that she had left on the table.

Glancing at the cover, which read _Dracula_ , Phoebe bit her lip and glanced at the page she had bookmarked. Sighing, she put the book down for later when Monty’s paranoid thoughts of Sibella being a vampire had vanished from her mind.

  “What were to happen if I were to die unexpectedly like Sibella did?”

Phoebe looked up at Monty’s sudden question, her eyes meeting his.

She took his hand gently.

  “Don’t think on that, Monty,” she told him in a soft voice, “You’re going to live a very long life.”

Monty didn’t look convinced, but he sighed and kissed her anyways.

She kissed him back, her hand caressing his cheek tenderly.

  “I love you,” she whispered to him quietly.

He nodded, and pulled her out of her chair into his own, and he held her close.

She reveled in his proximity, and she laid her head on his shoulder tiredly.

For a while it was just the two of them breathing quietly in silence as they sat there together, their hands intertwined before Monty spoke again.

  “I wish I could have saved her,” he lamented softly, sadly. Phoebe looked at his face.

He was crestfallen, destroyed at the fact that Sibella was dead. Phoebe could see it all in his eyes. He was hurting. As much as he loved Phoebe, he had also loved Sibella.

  “I know,” said Phoebe softly, comforting him the best she could. “I know…”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Monty went up to bed that night with the taste of sherry still on his lips, ready to try and get some sleep after Phoebe’s insistence that he should try. He had left his wife downstairs in the library, where she was quite content reading her book till she felt tired. She had advised him to go to sleep after the long and tiring day he had, most of it spent mourning Sibella.

Monty slipped under the covers, and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep though his thoughts were still consumed with speculation about Sibella.

His mind was occupied with the particular aspect of her death.

How did she die? Why didn’t Lionel call him sooner? Did she suffer?

Monty’s mind kept turning over his various explanations and situations until he felt sick, and fell asleep from pure exhaustion and guilt.

After a few hours, his sleep was interrupted by a rapping sound at the window. Not knowing if he was in a dream like state or not, Monty walked over to the window to see what was causing all of the ruckus.

He yawned as he opened the window, expecting to see a bird or something pecking at the glass, but instead he saw Sibella, sitting there on the slanted roof.

 “Monty!” she cried, and the Earl of Highhurst just stared at her, stunned.

She looked just like she had looked like in his previous dream. Still beautiful, still heavenly, still sparkling with her eyes glinting with a hint of danger and her skin glimmering.

Her pink dress was bright to his eyes as they adjusted to the darkness of the night.

  “May I come in?” she begged him, her voice sugary sweet.

 He smirked at her request, drawing himself out of his stunned trance. He couldn’t help himself. It was just so funny.

  “You’ve never asked permission before to come into my house, why are you starting now?”

She frowned at him, not amused.

  “Monty, this isn’t funny. Why are you so nonchalant about this?” she asked him, “I had expected a different reaction from you finding out that I’m not dead,” she commented.

He shrugged, “This isn’t the first dream that I’ve had that you’ve come back.”

He moved and let her in, though she was looking at him suspiciously.

Sibella stared at him curiously as she stood in the bedroom, her brow furrowing, her mouth set in a line.

He closed the window behind her, and turned to her, giving her a small smile.

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say a word, Monty took her in his arms and kissed her hard.

  “I just want to kiss you again before I wake up,” he murmured in her ear as he kissed her again.

She pushed him away gently, looking at him.

  “Monty, you’re not dreaming.” She told him slowly.

Her tone was serious, but he wasn’t listening to her.

He kissed her again, but it was this time that he realized that her lips were cold. He caressed her cheek, feeling how frigid it was, and she backed away from him.

  “Monty, you don’t want to get too close to me,” she warned him. “You smell so delicious and I don’t want to hurt you.”

He stepped towards her anyways, and grabbed her hand tightly.

  “I’m not afraid. I’m going to wake up before you hurt me anyways,” he told her.

She shook her head. “Monty this isn’t a dream. Please, listen to me-“

He cut her off again, looking at her.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, attempting to run his fingers through her golden hair, but she stepped out of his reach.

  “Monty-“

  “I wish you weren’t dead…”

  “Monty I’m not-“

  “They buried you, I saw-“

_“Monty!”_

He stopped at her exclamation and for once let her finish talking.

  “I am not dead,” she explained, “I was sick though, with some mysterious illness the doctor couldn’t explain or save me from. One night, I remember I was half delirious, I heard the door open and I thought it either you or Lionel coming to check up on me… but it wasn’t. The next thing I knew someone whispered harshly in my ear that if I was going to act like a monster that I was going to become one, and I felt a sharp pain at my neck… but I don’t remember anything else after that, except for when I woke up in my own coffin and-“

  “That’s impossible,” Monty interrupted her, shaking his hand and stepping towards her. “This is just a dream. You’re dead.”

  “No, Monty, it’s true. I’m not dead… I am some sort of monster, a murdering monster,” she told him.

He took her hand, and tried to kiss her again, but her lips curled back and revealed her sharp fangs.

He stopped and stared at her teeth for a moment, the realization finally sinking in.

  “I want blood, Monty. I crave it,” she told him softly, but she kept her distance away from him. “I am a monster, and this is real.”

His eyes wandered over her, seeing that she wasn’t as angelic as she had been in his dream. She was real. He was holding her hand in his own, though her hand was freezing.

It is then that he realized that Sibella was not breathing, her chest not moving, and that she was standing still as a statue. Her eyes were dangerous, her mouth set in a line.

He staggered away from her, blinking and trying to process all of this.

They were both quiet for a moment, and then they both heard Phoebe’s footsteps coming up the stairs.

  “I have to go,” whispered Sibella apologetically, “I’ll come back tomorrow.”

  “No, stay, there is so much more we have to talk about,” Monty pleaded with her.

She shook her head. “I can’t. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

He watched her leave through the window and vanish into the night just as Phoebe opened their bedroom door.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

  “Monty, whatever are you doing at the window, you’re going to catch a cold if you keep it open like that,” said Phoebe as she went over to the open window and closed it for him.

The sound of the window shutting seemed to snap him out of the funny trance he was in.

Still, Phoebe looked at him curiously. “Monty, are you alright?”

Her dark eyes were filled with concern as she continued with, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

He swallowed hard, nodding. “I’m fine,” he said weakly, and he climbed back into bed, half wondering if what had just happened was actually a dream or not.

His hand still tingled with the feeling of Sibella’s slim fingers intertwined with his. His lips still had her taste lingering on them. Her perfume and smell was overwhelmingly strong around him.

  “Monty?” Phoebe doesn’t sound convinced, and as she slipped into bed next to him, she placed a hand on his chest, and looked at him, not satisfied until she got an honest answer out of him.

He sighed.

  “I just- I just had another dream about Sibella,” he lied.

She gave him a sympathetic frown.

  “What was this one about? Still the same one as last time?” she asked.

  “No, no this one was different. She told me how she died, and how she was turned into a vampire,” he told her.

Phoebe paused before speaking again.

  “If they don’t go away soon, promise me you’ll go see a doctor?”

He hesitated before he nodded.

“Yes, of course.”

She kissed his cheek and soon they both fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

The next night, Monty waited for Sibella to come into their room again, with Phoebe reading downstairs once more.

As soon as she tapped on the window, he opened it and let her in.

  “Where have you been?” he asked, noticing the slight stains of blood around her mouth, and the dirt stains around the hem of her dress.

  “You don’t want to know,” she answered softly, wiping away the stains with her hand.

He sucked in a breath at that. He told himself all day that when she came back, he wouldn’t be afraid of her. And he wasn’t afraid, she was still his Sibella, still the same woman… just with a tendency to kill and suck blood from people.

He stood up straighter, and he bravely stepped towards her, caressing her cheek softly.

  “Are you feeling alright?” he questioned.

She nodded weakly, “I’m fine, Monty.”

Silence fell between them for a moment.

  “Have you told Phoebe?” she asked quietly, looking up at him.

   “No, no I haven’t,” he answered.

She nodded faintly.

  “That’s probably for the best for right now.” She paused, “How is she?”

  “She’s doing alright. She’s been my salvation these past few weeks,” he said softly, “She’s always there for me, ready to comfort me.”

Sibella smiled softly.

  “She is wonderful like that.”

Another moment of silence came.

  “I can’t believe you’re really here,” he said at last after the silence faded away, looking into her eyes.

  “Do you still think this is a dream?” she asked him.

  “I hope so,” he said to her softly.

She stared at him quizzically.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t want to think about you suffering like this every day, you deserve a peaceful rest, not an immortal life of killing people.”

  “Well, someone obviously thought differently,” she remarked darkly, but he could see past it and see that she was angry and bitter.

He leaned in to kiss her, but she stopped him by stepping away from him.

  “Please, don’t. I don’t want to hurt you.”

He glanced at her teeth and shuddered instinctively, just thinking about them and the danger they could inflict.

She hid her teeth behind her lips, “Lionel had the same reaction when he saw me, only it gave him a bit more of a shock.”

Monty looked at her suspiciously.

  “Sibella, Lionel’s dead,” he told her.

She nodded.

  “I know.”

Monty’s blood froze in that moment.

She sighed, seeing the look of terror on his face and explained.

  “I went to see him, with the intention of killing him, but as soon as he saw me, he fainted and his heart stopped. I guess seeing his wife come back from the dead was too much for his old, failing heart.”

Monty frowned.

  “You went to see Lionel before you came to see me?”

She scowled at him, “Don’t be so petty, Monty.  I didn’t exactly know what was going on with me, I thought I had been buried alive until I felt the uncontrollable urge to drink blood and kill and that’s when I realized what had happened to me… that I had become a vampire.”

Monty looked at her, finally realizing that this is what had happened to his Sibella.

  “I wish this hadn’t happened to you,” he said quietly.

She looked up at him, her face softened.

  “We can’t change what happened now, Monty,” she reasoned. “I don’t mind… I guess I was bound to be cursed one way or another,” she said darkly with a slight laugh.

  “Don’t’ say that,” protested Monty as he held her hand in his.

  “Why shouldn’t I?” she snapped back at him, “Someone obviously thought that I should be punished for the way I acted. Someone thought that I had to pay for whatever sins I committed.”

  “This doesn’t have to be a punishment, you still get to see Phoebe and I.”

  “At the cost of killing people!” she told him.

She bit her lip and crossed her arms, her eyes glinting with anger.

He touched her cheek gently, his fingers brushing over her skin lightly.

  “What do we do now?” he asked her softly.

She sighed, “I don’t know,” she answered truthfully after a moment.

Neither of them heard either Phoebe’s footsteps or the bedroom door open, and before they realized it, it was too late.

Phoebe had already seen Sibella.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

Phoebe’s face was one of shock and horror.

  “S-Si-Sibella?” she whispered in a frightened tone, looking at the supposedly dead woman.

  “I-I don’t understand, how can this be?” she continued, taking a step towards the blonde.

She wrapped her arms around herself, pressing her blue nightgown to her body as if to prove to herself that this was real and that this was happening.

Sibella stood up straighter, and turned towards Phoebe while Monty kept his grip on the blonde’s hand.

  “That old man was right, Phoebe, he was right. Sibella is part of the Undead,” said Monty.

Phoebe stared at the blonde carefully, taking in her beautiful yet strange appearance.

She seemed more angelic than she had been in life, more beautiful if that was even possible.

But there was danger behind her eyes, and that was the only thing that Phoebe did not recognize about the blonde.

  “Is it really you?” Phoebe asked, peering at her.

The blonde woman nodded and began to retell the story of what had happened to her.

When she was done, Phoebe sat down on the bed, processing all of this.

  “I can’t believe that really happened to you. It’s just like the story in my book,” she said at last, looking at Sibella.

  “It’s true though,” said the blonde. “I’m not lying. At least you actually believe me,” she said, “Monty thought he was dreaming.”

Phoebe shook her head.

  “No, no I know I’m not dreaming. It’s just… it’s just a lot to take in.”

She got up and walked over to Sibella, looking at her carefully. The blonde stiffened as she got close.

  “Don’t worry,” said Phoebe, taking a step back, “I’ll keep my distance.”

  “Do you really believe me?” Sibella asked.

Phoebe nodded. “Yes, yes of course I believe you. I can’t ignore something that’s right in front of my eyes.”

Phoebe’s gaze traveled to Sibella’s fangs and that cemented in her mind that this was real.

  “What do you think we should do now?” Monty asked Phoebe.

  “About Sibella?”

  “Yes,” he nodded. “Yes, about her new… lifestyle, shall we call it?”

Phoebe bit her lip, thinking.

  “Well, we need to keep her appetite satisfied so that she doesn’t start attacking people…” she paused.

  “What are you eating right now?” she asked Sibella.

  “Just livestock, but it’s not satisfying enough,” the blonde told her.

  Phoebe thought for a bit longer.

  “I promise I’ll come up with a plan, I need to do some research first,” she said to Sibella.

The blonde nodded. She then glanced at the window at the sunlight that was starting to stream in through the curtains.

  “It’s nearly morning, I should get going.”

She left, and Phoebe and Monty were left by themselves.

Phoebe looked at Monty curiously after a few moments of silence passed between them.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you knew she was alive?” she asked him.

   “I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or not. I just wanted to be sure first,” he told her.

  “I can’t believe she’s alive…” mused Phoebe.

  “We need to help her though. I’m worried about her, I think she’s afraid of herself and what she could do,” remarked Monty.

Phoebe nodded. Then she went and retrieved her book from downstairs. She sat on the bed and flipped through it feverishly, looking for a certain passage.

   “What are you doing?” asked Monty, looking at her book.

  “Looking for something,” she muttered.

Monty caught a glance at the title of her book.

  “Phoebe, _Dracula_ is a fictional story,” he told her, “You can’t trust that.”

 “I know, but we have to start somewhere, Monty,” she told him, flipping through the book and finding the passage she was looking for.

  “Here, here come look at this,” she urged him, giving him the book and pointing to the paragraph she wanted him to read.

_‘”The nosferatu do not die like the bee when he sting once. He is only stronger; and being stronger, have yet more power to work evil. This vampire which is amongst us is of himself so strong in person as twenty men; he is of cunning more than mortal, for his cunning be the growth of ages; he have still the aids of necromancy, which is, as his etymology imply, the divination by the dead, and all the dead that he can come nigh to are for him at command; he is brute, and more than brute; he is devil in callous, and the heart of him is not; he can, within limitations, appear at will when, and where, and in any of the forms that are to him; he can, within his range, direct the elements; the storm, the fog, the thunder; he can command all the meaner things; the rat, and the owl, and the bat-the moth, and the fox, and the wolf; he can grow and become small; and he can at times vanish and come unknown.”’_

  “And then there’s this,” added Phoebe flipping the page.

_‘“He can do all these things, yet he is not free. Nay; he is even more prisoner than the slave of the galley, than the madman in his cell. He cannot go where he lists; he who is not of nature has yet to obey some of nature’s laws-why we know not. He may not enter anywhere at the first, unless there be some one of the household who big him to come; though afterwards he can come as he please. His powers ceases, as does that of all evil things, at the coming of the day. Only at certain times can he have limited freedom. If he be not at the place whither he is bound, he can only change himself at noon or at exact sunrise or sunset. These things are we told, and in this record of ours we have proof by inference. Thus, whereas he can do as he will within his limit, when he have his earth home, his coffin-home, his hell-home, the place unhallowed, as we saw when he went to the grave of the suicide at Whitby; still at other time he can only change when the time come. It is said, too, that he can only pass running water at the slack or the flood of the tide. Then there are things which so afflict him that he has no power, as the garlic that we know of, and as now when we resolve, to them he is nothing, but in their presence he take his place far off and silent with respect. There are others, too, which I shall tell you of, lest in our seeking we may need them. The branch of wild rose on his coffin keep him that he move not from it; a sacred bullet fired into the coffin kill him so that he be true dead; and as for the stake through him, we know already of its peace; or the cut-off head that giveth rest.”’_

  “This is a good start, but I need more information if we want to help Sibella,” she murmured.

She looked up at him, her eyes imploring him.

  “Will you come with me to the library tomorrow?” she asked Monty as she shut her book, done with her research for tonight.

He nodded, kissing her cheek.

  “Anything to help you and Sibella.”

She smiled at him and held his hand tightly. “I want to help her,” she told him.

  “I do too,” he agreed.

He kissed her lips as he shut off their light and fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

He couldn’t even see her because she had so many books in her arms.

  “Do you need any help?” he asked her as she came to the counter at the library to check out all of those books.

  “No,” she huffed as she set the books down on the counter, “I’m all set.”

Monty shook his head at her, amused at her determination and will power.

The librarian checked out all of the books and Monty helped Phoebe take them back to the car.

  “You know, I really appreciate you helping Sibella out with this, you’re taking this rather well,” he remarked to her as they drove back home.

Phoebe nodded, “I guess I am. I feel as if I’m in a dream though… and at any moment I’ll wake up and she’ll be gone… so I guess I just want to make the most of the time I have until I wake up… and if I can do that by helping her then why not?”

Monty smiled at her and took her hand.

  “I completely understand where you’re coming from. The feeling of it being a dream fades away… she’s real… she’s here, and we need to help her.”

Phoebe nodded, “We do need to help her.”

She kissed his cheek gently, and he squeezed her hand tightly.

  “Does she know about Lionel?” Phoebe asked.

Monty nodded, “Yes,” he said after a moment.

He left it at that, silence suspending between them in the air.

Phoebe glanced at him suspiciously, but didn’t press him on the matter.

Instead she focused her attention on the stack of books she held in her lap until they reached Highhurst.

As soon as they got home, Phoebe went right to work, going through all of the books she got, marking pages and taking meticulous notes.

Monty watched her, amused and proud of her tenacity to help Sibella.

  “I think you checked out the entire library,” he remarked to her with a chuckle.

She smirked at him and handed him a stack of books, “Here, come help me,” she demanded.

He took the books and began to go through them, taking notes like Phoebe had done.

By the end of the day, both of them were exhausted, and hadn’t accomplished as much as they wanted to.

When Sibella came to the window, Phoebe was still on the bed, her books spread around her, and Monty opened the window for her.

  “Phoebe’s still working,” he told her as he helped her inside.

Sibella stood there, glancing at Phoebe, who looked exhausted but was still working and scribbling down notes in a journal.

The blonde walked to the bed, and sat down, moving a book out of her way.

Phoebe looked up and smiled at her tiredly.

  “You don’t have to work yourself to death for my sake,” commented Sibella looking at the bed which was covered with books.

  “I don’t mind,” said Phoebe, “I’m learning so much, here, let me show you,” she said as she reached for a book, and grabbed it in her hand.

She flipped through the pages quickly, until she stopped, crying out.

She held up her hand to examine what had happened, and her hand now had a slice cut into it due to the paper.

Tiny dots of blood began to appear in the cut, and the room suddenly became tense.

Before Phoebe or Monty had the chance to react, Sibella was already lunging for Phoebe’s hand, her eyes blood thirsty.

Phoebe tried to fight her off, but Sibella was stronger.

The blonde had the brunette pinned underneath her on the bed, and it looked as though Sibella was going to bite Phoebe.

But then, the blonde froze mid-attack, the blood lust in her eyes vanishing.

She immediately backed away from Phoebe, the fear prominent in her eyes.

Her hands were shaking, “I’m-I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to,” she stammered.

Phoebe sat up slowly as Monty came to her aid, and held her hands.

  “It was an accident,” said Phoebe softly, swallowing hard, “Its’ fine, Sibella. No harm done.”

But it was hard to deny that the brunette was shaken by the incident.

She glanced down at the wound, blood trickling down her hand. Phoebe bit her lip as she looked up and saw Sibella’s fearful face.

  “I hurt you,” the blonde whispered, “I’m a monster!” she cried.

  “No, no Sibella, its’ fine. Sibella, I’m alright,” said Phoebe, trying to comfort her, hiding her hand in her lap.

Sibella shook her head. “I could have killed you, I shouldn’t be here.”

She backed herself up into the wall, afraid to be near them.

  “No, Sibella, please stay,” begged Monty, moving towards her.

  “No, I’m a monster, I could have killed both of you,” she cried. “I’m not going to take the chance of hurting either of you.”

She then moved past Monty and left, vanishing in a second before Monty or Phoebe could do anything about it.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

In the morning, Monty kissed Phoebe’s cheek, waking her up.

  “Good morning, darling,” he whispered in her ear.

She smiled at him as she turned to look at him. “Hi,” she said softly.

He smiled back at her, kissing her lips. He took her hand in his and inspected it.

  “How’s your hand?” he asked gently.

She shrugged. “Fine, I guess. It stings a little, do you think you could put a bandage on it?”

Monty nodded, kissing her again.

  “I’m sorry she almost hurt you,” apologized Monty.

Phoebe sat up, bringing her hair over her shoulder with her other hand.

  “It’s alright, I know she didn’t mean to.”

  “She needs our help,” he said softly.

Phoebe took his hand in hers, “I know she does… so let’s go help her.”

After getting dressed and having breakfast, they set off for the library once more to collect more research, with Phoebe’s hand bandaged and taken care of.

Monty was going to help Phoebe carry the numerous books that she was selecting, since he was afraid that she was going to topple over from the weight of the books but as they stood in line, she was fine and held her own.

The line was long, many young children were in line in front of them and they had to stand there for a while. Monty wandered off to look for some newspapers, leaving Phoebe in line by herself, with the Earl within walking distance of her.

  “Researching about vampires, are you?” someone asked, and Phoebe turned to see who had asked the question.

The man before her was a few inches taller than her, with a dazzling yet disarming smile. He was dressed in a nice black suit that complimented his dark blonde hair and blue eyes. He had no books in his arms, yet he was standing just to the left of the line, which Phoebe thought was strange.

  “Yes, I’m just interested in them,” replied Phoebe simply.        

She turned back around, she was almost first in line now, and her thoughts were focused on how to help Sibella.

The man nodded, and glanced at the many books she held in her arms.

  “That’s a lot of books, you got there, Miss…?” he prompted her.

Phoebe turned back around, not realizing that he had wanted to continue the conversation.

  “Phoebe, Mrs. Phoebe Navarro, Countess of Highhurst,” she said placing the books on the counter as she moved up the line, and then she shook his hand.

  “And you are?” she asked.

  “Matthew, Matthew Hedley,” he told her.

She smiled at him, as Monty came next to her and dropped off a newspaper onto the counter to add to the pile, and looked at the man suspiciously.

  “Hello,” said Matthew, shaking Monty’s hand politely.

Monty frowned at him and narrowed his eyes, immediately distrustful of this man… his smile seemed too charming.

  “Monty, this is Matthew Hedley,” introduced Phoebe.

  “How do you do?” asked Monty.

  “I’m very well, thank you,” said Matthew.

  “I was just talking to your wife about her interest in vampires,” he continued.

  “Oh?” said Monty, pursing his lips together.

He wouldn’t deny that he felt threatened by this man’s presence. He seemed like he wanted something… Monty just didn’t know what.

  “Yes, your wife seems very interested them. I’m sort of an expert about vampires myself,” he told them both.

  “Yes, well, we should get going,” said Monty linking his arm through Phoebe’s. “Come along, Phoebe.”

Matthew leaned in towards her, “Vampires are my specialty Mrs. Navarro. If you ever want to know more, feel free to call me anytime if you’d like more information,” he said in a low voice, giving her his card.

Phoebe took it in her grasp and held it, giving him an appreciative smile as he left.

Phoebe glanced at the card as Matthew walked away while Monty glowered at him from afar.

  “Monty, look at this,” whispered the brunette, giving him the card.

Monty looked over the card which read:

**_ Matthew Hedley _ **

**_ Vampire Hunter/Exterminator _ **

  “We’ve got to warn Sibella,” he whispered back to her.

She nodded as the librarian finished checking out their books.

  “We should go see him though, sometime. Maybe he can help,” she suggested as she stuck the card into one of the books.

  “I don’t know, I got a funny vibe from him,” remarked Monty. “I feel like he wants something from us.”

  “Oh, Monty, you are so distrustful of everyone,” said Phoebe with a sigh.

They picked up their books and made their way to the car.

  “Didn’t you get a weird feeling from him?” asked Monty, glancing at her.

  “A little,” admitted the brunette, “But Monty, what choice do we have?”

  “We can find someone else to help us, someone not creepy and suspicious.”

   “He may be our only help,” pointed out Phoebe.

Monty sighed.

  “Maybe you’re right…”

  “It’s worth a shot, Monty. Don’t you want to help Sibella?”

Monty sighed again, “Alright, let’s meet with him next week.”

Phoebe nodded without another word.

  “I hope we’re doing the right thing,” whispered Monty.

Phoebe took his hand, “Anything is better than doing nothing,” she told him.

He nodded, and kissed her hand as they made their way back to the house.

 

* * *

 

That night, Sibella came into their bedroom looking tired and exhausted.

Her face was worn, and exasperated, her eyes dimmed.

Phoebe looked up from her books as Sibella came in.

  “You look hungry… those animals aren’t doing enough for you, are they?” she remarked, taking in her appearance as the blonde sank into a chair, resting her head on the back of it, looking at Phoebe.

Sibella shook her head wearily. Her hands sat in her lap, touching the ripped hem of her dress that was now tattered and dirty.

The room was quiet for a while.

  “I wanted to apologize….” She started quietly, “for last night. I don’t know what came over me, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she told Phoebe.

Phoebe looked up at her, and gave her a sympathetic smile.

  “It’s alright, Sibella. I’m just fine, I promise.”

She held up her bandaged hand as if that was proof that it was alright.

  “See?” said Phoebe, “All better.”

  “Still, I feel terrible,” began the blonde.

  “It’s okay,” interrupted Phoebe warmly. “Sibella, I know you didn’t mean to.”

  “I just wish I could control myself… but I just don’t want to hurt anyone,” Sibella said to them.

Monty, who sat in the chair by the bed, glanced up at the blonde.

  “We know you don’t want to hurt anyone. We just don’t know how to help you,” he admitted.

  “I know, I know you both are trying, and I appreciate that… I just… I just wish I wasn’t like this.”

They all grew quiet after that.

  “Do you have a suggestion?” asked Sibella to Phoebe after a while.

Phoebe bit her lip as she shut her book.

  “I have an idea, but you’ll have to be patient. I was thinking about taking blood from the local hospital to help keep your urge under control.”

  “That does sound like a good idea,” chimed in Monty.

Sibella nodded in agreement.

  “It will be better than killing all of these animals.”

Phoebe nodded, “I thought that would be a good alternative. I’ll try and get some blood this week,” she promised.

Sibella nodded.

  “Thank you.”

A moment of silence passed between all of them.

  “I should get going, I’m still hungry. I just wanted to see how you two were getting on,” said the blonde.

  “We’ll see you tomorrow then,” said Phoebe.

Sibella gave them a brief smile as she waved to them goodbye and left through the window.

As soon as she left, Monty came over to Phoebe and started shutting all of the books.

Phoebe looked up at him, confused.

  “No more researching tonight,” he told her. “You need to sleep.”

Phoebe frowned, but as she watched him put away the books, she sighed and relented, putting away her glasses and wrapping her bathrobe around her body.

  “I want to go to Matthew’s soon,” she reminded him as he got into bed next to her.

He nodded. “Alright,” he said reluctantly, “we’ll call him tomorrow and see what we can do.”

She bit her lip and nodded softly.

  “We forgot to warn Sibella about him,” she remarked quietly.

Monty looked at her.

  “I’m sure he’s not a threat to Sibella right now,” he said, though he wasn’t truly convinced of that himself.

  “I hope you’re right,” said Phoebe softly.

Monty kissed her forehead.

  “Stop worrying,” he begged her, “Let’s just try and get some sleep.”

Phoebe glanced up at him, and sighed.

He shut off the lights without another word.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

The whole atmosphere was unsettling and creepy.

Phoebe of course, would never say that to Matthew’s face, she was too polite to do so, but as they walked through the house, she ended up holding onto Monty’s hand a bit tighter than she had anticipated doing so.

 Everything was jarring and peculiar, Phoebe felt extremely uncomfortable as Matthew let them in.

She stared at the dark striped wallpaper, complimented with the leather furniture, and she shuddered.

Monty felt the same way, he was uneasy as they walked around.

Matthew’s house was strange, it was rather dark… more like a mad scientist’s laboratory than a home.

Phoebe shuddered involuntarily as they walked up the steps of the staircase, the stairs creaking beneath them as if there was something or someone underneath them.

  “So, Phoebe, how did you become interested in vampires?” Their host, Matthew asked her as he showed them around the house.

  “I’ve just started reading _Dracula_ and I wanted to separate the fact from the fiction,” she told him.

  “Ahh, _Dracula_ , a wonderful story but surprisingly full of fictitious musings of Stoker,” said Matthew with a lighthearted laugh.

  “So I’ve heard,” replied Phoebe, frowning.

  “I admire Stoker very much for bringing the subject of vampires into the public eye and showing people how terrifying that can be, but alas he took too many artistic liberties in his story,” said Matthew with a shake of his head, as if he was disappointed.

 Matthew continued, “If you’d like I can tell you about the history of vampires, here come into my library,” he offered to Phoebe.

Phoebe and Matthew went into the library while Monty wandered off, looking around at the house.

His skin had goosebumps on it as he looked at the different artifacts and memorabilia that were scattered around the halls.

Monty felt as though he was walking through some sort of strange museum.

There were many religious artifacts, crosses, wafers, and such, put into glass boxes and hanging in frames, along with bundles of garlic, and lastly several wooden stakes, which caused Monty to shiver just looking at them.

He wondered about Matthew’s mental state as he looked at all of these artifacts.  Monty thought that he must have truly believed in this stuff if he had a collection of instruments used to kill a vampire.

Monty stared at the stakes, picturing Matthew driving one of them into Sibella’s heart, and he shuddered at the terrible thought.

He couldn’t let Matthew hurt Sibella, he wouldn’t. He didn’t want the blonde to have a stake plunged into her heart by this man.

He didn’t want her to die.

  “Darling?” Phoebe’s voice interrupted him and he turned to find Matthew and Phoebe standing behind him.

  “Ah, admiring my collection, are you?” remarked Matthew.

Monty nodded solemnly, turning his attention back to the stakes in the picture frame.

  “It’s rather interesting…” he lied. It was more terrifying than interesting in his opinion.

  “All artifacts to destroy and detain the monster we call a vampire,” said Matthew, looking at his collection while Phoebe came closer to Monty and took his hand.

  “It’s quite intimidating,” said Phoebe, glancing at the stakes.

Matthew nodded. “Supposed to be. These objects help to protect mankind against these devilish creatures… and I just might have to use these.”

That statement piqued both of their interests.

  “What do you mean by that?” asked Monty after a moment of silence.

He turned to face them, his face serious and solemn.

  “What I mean is that I suspect that there is a vampire, right here, in this town…” he said slowly.

Phoebe gripped Monty’s hand tighter, but tried to keep her face blank, not wanting to give anything away.

This was what Monty had been afraid of. He had been afraid that this would happen, that Matthew would suspect Sibella.

  “Do you really think so?” asked Phoebe, her eyes narrowing.

Matthew nodded.

  “How do you know this?” asked Monty, determined to throw Matthew off of Sibella’s track.

He smiled, a truly terrifyingly sadistic smile.

  “Let me show you…”

 

* * *

 

  “This is wrong, “Monty interjected as Matthew led them through the cemetery to the grave that he was looking for, “This is wrong, and you can’t do this.”

  “It needs to be done, people need to be aware of what’s happening in this town, and if this is the only way to get through to them then so be it,” uttered Matthew.

Phoebe and Monty exchanged a glance as they followed Matthew through the maze of graves.

  “You could be arrested!” pointed out Monty.

  “The police will be thanking me when I save their children and their wives from this monster!” replied Matthew.

  “They could still arrest you for trespassing, it’s a crime to break into graves,” reasoned Monty.

  “It’s for the good of the people, I’m protecting them,” said Matthew, “This is about us versus them, this is about saving ourselves from these hellish creatures.”

Silence fell between the two men, and Phoebe felt uncomfortable as the night air settled in.

It was nearly sunset, and there was a chill in the air.

Phoebe shuddered as they walked around the graveyard, feeling strange being in the cemetery with all of those dead bodies.

Finally they reached the intended crypt.

Phoebe glanced around the empty cemetery fearfully, afraid that they would get caught.

  “What if someone sees us? Matthew, this is ridiculous!” she scolded him, but Matthew didn’t answer her.

They all stopped in their tracks as they laid eyes on the towering crypt.

The name engraved on the top read: HALLWARD.

Monty and Phoebe knew that Lionel had fought to have Sibella buried in a separate plot, one where she could be called; Sibella Holland nee Hallward, but he had been over-ruled by Sibella’s parents who wanted their daughter in the family crypt.

Sibella had mentioned her family crypt once, saying that her great great grandfather had purchased the plot and that generations after generations of Hallwards had been buried there.

  “You can’t be serious,” exclaimed Monty upon watching Matthew take out his tools, and he began working on getting the door open, “This is mad!”

Matthew didn’t say a word, he just continued working.

He got the door open, while Phoebe and Monty watched speechless and stunned.

Phoebe reached for Monty’s hand, and squeezed it tightly.

  “This,” said Matthew, getting up and brushing the dirt off of his pants, “is science. This is destroying an enemy. First we must know who the enemy is, and then we must destroy it. I’ve been watching this cemetery for months now, and just last week, I’ve been noticing that a woman… this Sibella Hallward, has been escaping her crypt. She’s here in the morning, but in the night, her body is gone.”

  “It might just be grave-robbers,” said Phoebe, even though she knew it was a lie.

Matthew shook his head.

  “No, no, it can’t possibly be grave-robbers, because every morning, her body comes back and she looks more refreshed and beautiful than ever.”

  “I see her walking out of this crypt, and then I see her slaughtering animals in the fields for her to eat. This isn’t just a case of grave-robbers,” continued Matthew.

  “This is impossible, vampires don’t exist,” said Monty.

Matthew looked at him, “Oh, but Mr. Navarro, they do. They really do exist.”

He paused.

  “Let me show you what I mean,” and he opened the door.

Phoebe and Monty went inside hesitantly, wondering if Matthew would murder them and dispose of their bodies in here in the name of science and for them knowing way too much.

But Matthew was cordial, polite even. It made him even more terrifying.

The crypt was cold and dark, the stone walls emulating the frigid conditions. Matthew left the door open but Phoebe still felt like they were trapped in the structure.

They watched as Matthew looked around for Sibella’s coffin, and after a while, he finally found it.

  “How do you know that she’s a vampire?” asked Phoebe.

  “You’ll see in a moment,” replied Matthew as he took out his tools again.

As he opened Sibella’s coffin, Monty had half the mind to bludgeon in his skull with whatever he could get his hands on, but the other half of him was strangely curious to see what he would have to say.

Matthew took off the lid, and looked at them as if to see their reactions.

There laid Sibella, in her pink dress, her hem dirty and stained with blood, but other than that she looked beautiful, perfect. Her skin almost looked life-like again, her cheeks were rosy, her lips red.

She looked alive, they couldn’t deny it. For a second, Phoebe and Monty actually thought she was alive.

 But Monty and Phoebe kept their faces blank… expressionless, though inside they were terrified and angry.

How dare he do this to Sibella, to her grave?

Matthew then bent down, and pulled back the upper part of Sibella’s lip, exposing her fangs.

  “Now do you see?” he asked them.

Phoebe squeezed Monty’s hand tightly for she could see that Monty was ready to murder this man for touching Sibella.

  “So, her teeth are irregular, what does that have anything to do with her being a vampire?” asked the brunette, trying to get this over with quickly so that they could get out of here.

  “She has the fangs of the devil, of a vampire. No normal human has teeth like these.”

  “Don’t you have any respect for the dead?” growled Monty, glaring at Matthew with murderous eyes.

  “I do, of course I do,” answered Matthew, “But she’s not dead. She’s part of the Undead, a monster, a creature of hell. This monster doesn’t deserve my respect, it deserves to die, to be gone from this world so that no one else can be hurt. Soon enough, she’ll stop feeding on animals and start killing people. Then we’ll have a mass panic on our hands… and I’m the only one that can stop her.”

There was a moment of silence.

Matthew paused, “One day, I’m going to catch her… and I’m going to drive a stake through her heart and cut off her head, ridding this town of her villainous ways for good, just you wait,” Matthew threatened.

  “We have to go,” muttered Monty abruptly, grabbing Phoebe’s arm and dragging her out of the crypt, attempting to conceal the anger on his face but failing miserably.

Matthew followed them out, “You can join me if you want to, when I decide to kill her.”

Monty didn’t say another word, already heading out of the cemetery.

Phoebe looked between Matthew and Monty, telling Matthew, “You’ll have to excuse us, my husband has a meeting that we’re late to…. We’ll let you know.”

Then she ran off after Monty, leaving Matthew in the cemetery.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight:

"He's going to murder you!"

Sibella looked at Monty suspiciously at his outburst, wondering if he had gone mad or something.

"What? Who's going to murder me?" she asked as she stepped fully into the room, looking between Phoebe and Monty for an explanation.

"This man we met, Matthew Hedley. He's a vampire hunter, and Sibella, he believes that you are a vampire and he wants to kill you," said Monty quickly.

"How do you know he's after me?" she asked them.

"He took us to your crypt today, and said that he had been noticing that for the past week or so that you've been leaving it, and then he showed us your fangs," said Monty, his tone angry.

"How did you meet this man, and why on earth would you let him into my crypt?" she asked them harshly.

"We met him at the library the other day, and we met with him today because we thought he might be able to help us," explained Phoebe, "But now it turns out that he wants to plunge a stake into your heart and cut your head off."

Sibella noticed that Monty's hands were shaking at that, and she knew that he did not want this Matthew person to murder her.

Sibella looked at him, her face blank. She then walked to a chair and sat down calmly.

The blonde was quiet for a moment.

"Would that be such a bad thing?" she asked, looking up at both of them.

Phoebe and Monty exchanged a glance before Monty answered her.

"Yes," said Monty, taking her hands, "Of course, that would be awful. We just got you back, we don't want to lose you again," he told her as he caressed her cheek.

The blonde shook her head.

"It would be better if someone just killed me, so at least I could be at peace."

Monty looked at her, "I don't want you to suffer, but I also don't want you to die. We just got you back, my darling," he emphasized.

She sighed.

"But maybe this Matthew person is right, maybe I am a danger to the town…"

"No, no you're not. We're going to work this out, and you're going to be able to control yourself," said Phoebe gently.

"Please don't listen to him," said Monty, "You're not dangerous."

Sibella bit her lip, staying quiet.

"And now that Lionel's gone, we can all be together. No one is standing in our way now," he said softly.

Phoebe agreed with Monty's sentiment.

"He's right, Sibella. We can work around this."

"I'm not so sure, if this man is after me, how do you plan to stop him?" she asked.

"I have an idea. Why don't we just move you into the guest bedroom?" suggested Phoebe.

Sibella looked at her, "You're joking," her eyes narrowed, arms crossed over her chest.

"No," Phoebe shook her head.

"If you stayed here, Matthew couldn't touch you then," said Monty.

"I'm not sure, that sounds like such an imposition on both of you, and what about the servants?" Sibella sounded hesitant.

"We'll just have them stay out of that room, and we'll have them leave at night," answered Phoebe.

"This is madness," said Sibella, standing up, "I won't let you do this."

"Sibella please," pleaded Phoebe, "We just want to protect you."

"It's not worth it, I'm not worth it!" she argued.

Monty took her hand, "Yes, you are. We love you."

She stopped and looked at him, feeling upset.

"Can't we at least try it tomorrow and see how it works?" Monty begged the blonde.

"We'll bring your coffin in, and you'll stay at the house," said Phoebe.

Sibella sighed, feeling powerless. She couldn't say no.

"The pair of you will look like grave-robbers taking my coffin like that," she told them in a sharp remark.

There was silence before she bit her lip and sighed.

"Fine, but I don't understand why you're both so insistent on this."

"We love you," said Monty quietly, "that's why."

She kissed his cheek gently and then Phoebe's.

"I have to go back…."

"We'll see you tomorrow," said Phoebe.

The blonde nodded before leaving again.

* * *

The next night fell sooner than anyone had expected it to, and before they knew it, Monty and Phoebe found themselves in the graveyard near Sibella's crypt. The blonde emerged from the stone structure, a heavenly yet animalistic figure amidst the night air.

"I'm going to go eat, I'll meet you at the house?" she told them.

Monty and Phoebe nodded, and she disappeared into the night.

After making sure no one was around, they put the coffin into their carriage and went back to Highhurst, without being detected.

Back at the castle, the servants had all been dismissed for the night, and Sibella sat in the bedroom with Monty and Phoebe.

"We've got everything all set up," Phoebe told her as she led her to the guest bedroom to show her.

The coffin was in the middle of the room, at the end of the bed, looking odd amongst the comforting bedroom furniture.

The room was dark, the curtains all drawn, the shades closed, and the lights off.

"Is this alright?" asked Monty as the blonde stepped into the room.

"Yes, yes, this is fine."

"We got you a new dress, one of Phoebe's old nightgowns if you want to change out of this dress," said Monty gesturing to her dirty pink dress.

"Thank you, that's kind," she said.

"Now you're safe," said Monty softly kissing her hand.

"If you say so," remarked the blonde sharply.

"Sibella-please-"but she turned away from him.

"Don't!" she uttered, "What's done is done now. I can't change your minds now, I just wish you two weren't so reckless."

Monty let go of her hand and watched with Phoebe as she slid open her coffin.

"It's nearly morning," remarked Phoebe.

Sibella turned towards them. "I should get to sleep," she said.

"Goodnight, Sibella," said Monty coming towards her and attempting to kiss her cheek, but she shrugged him off.

"Goodnight, darling," said Phoebe, keeping her distance.

"We'll see you tomorrow night," whispered Monty.

Sibella didn't look at him, but she nodded.

Monty walked back to the door and as he shut it, he thought he heard the blonde mutter something about how she had wished Matthew had killed her, how she wished she had died so that none of them would be in danger.

Phoebe held his hand as they walked back to their room.

"She hates me," murmured Monty.

"She's upset. She doesn't want us in danger, and this whole situation is dangerous. She's just angry at her condition and what it entails."

"She wished that she was dead," pointed out Monty.

"If you were in her place, wouldn't you wish that too?" asked Phoebe softly.

Monty was silent at that.

"Don't judge her too harshly, Monty. She's still adjusting to who she is now."

He sighed as he climbed into bed.

"She knows we love her, and we know she loves us," whispered Phoebe, comforting him. "She'll come around, she's just afraid of us being hurt."

"This is all for her," said Monty.

"She knows that."

Phoebe kissed his lips softly. "Get some sleep," she told him.

"It's nearly morning," he said to her, looking at the sunrise through the window.

"Sleep anyways, you need it."

Monty reluctantly fell asleep, as did Phoebe, but both of them were glad that Sibella was just in the other room where they knew she was safe.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine:

Night fell again, and Sibella wandered out of her room and settled herself in the castle’s library, looking at all of the books Phoebe got about vampires.

She was perusing through them when Phoebe came into the library, stopping on a page that was talking about how to kill a vampire, when the brunette entered the room.

  “Oh, there you are,” said Phoebe softly walking up to the blonde. “I was looking for you.”

Sibella looked up at her, and gave her a small smile.

  “I was just reading, I hope you don’t mind.”

Phoebe shook her head, “Not at all. I brought you something.”

Sibella looked up and saw a bag of blood in Phoebe’s hands.

The brunette handed it to her quickly, “I thought you might be hungry. This is the blood from the hospital that I took today. I’ve got some more downstairs if you need it.”

  “Thank you,” said Sibella with a smile. “I’m not going to ask what lengths you went to get this.”

Phoebe shrugged her shoulders, “It was no trouble. I lied.”

Sibella smirked, “Miss prim and proper lied? How very scandalous!”

The brunette frowned. “It was for a good cause, it was for you. I thought that you were worth it.”

Sibella looked up at her appreciatively. “Thank you. I mean it, Phoebe.”

The blonde then opened the bag and sucked on the liquid until it was all gone.

Phoebe watched her with fascination and intrigue mixed with disgust.

Sibella glanced at her when she finished.

  “I told you this wasn’t a good idea, my habits are too strange and horrifying for you and Monty to watch me as this monstrous being,” she told her.

  “I disagree. It’s just going to take some time to get used to it,” Phoebe said stepping towards her.

Sibella put the bag down.

  “You are too generous, Phoebe, honestly.”

  “And you are too hard on yourself,” countered the brunette.

Sibella sighed, “I guess I am. I don’t mean to.”

  “We know,” Phoebe interrupted her, “It’s alright. You’re just trying to get used to what you are now. It’s normal.”

Sibella laughed lightly, “I wouldn’t call being a blood-sucking vampire and dealing with that normal, but if you think so…”

Phoebe’s face softened as she moved closer to the blonde.

  “I’m just saying it’s understandable to see where you’re coming from, but you have to see where Monty and I are coming from as well… we thought you were dead, darling. We thought you were gone. Monty didn’t sleep for days when he found out. And now… you’ve suddenly returned-“

  “I’ve returned as a monster,” Sibella said softly.

  “Nevertheless,” said Phoebe, straightening her posture so that she was looking at Sibella straight in the eyes, “You came back and you’re here now. Monty and I are so happy… so incredibly happy that you’re here, and we don’t care how or why you’re back. All that matters is that you’re here and we love you.”

Sibella smiled.

  “You’re right, I’m sorry,” she apologized, “I was wallowing in self pity. I’ll try harder not to.”

Phoebe smiled at her back softly.

  “We love you so much,” she murmured.

The brunette then kissed Sibella softly, her lips on Sibella’s blood stained ones.

Phoebe’s hand came up and caressed her cheek gently, her fingers trembling as she touched Sibella’s cold skin.

Her hand then moved and entangled itself in the blonde’s soft hair.

Sibella’s chest tightened. She wanted to continue the kiss, but she pulled away despite her feelings.

  “I might hurt you again,” she whispered, eyes down at the ground, “I can’t.”

  “I know you won’t.” Phoebe’s quiet reply grabbed her attention and her eyes snapped up to Phoebe’s face.

Sibella leaned in once more and pressed her lips to Phoebe’s hard, relishing the taste of her lips.

They stopped as soon as the door opened and Monty came in.

But the Earl seemed unphased by the display of affection, having seen Phoebe and Sibella kiss many times before.

  “How are you doing?” he asked the blonde nonchalantly.

  “Good, the blood from the hospital is doing wonders,” she told him with a smile as she wiped away the blood from her lips.

Monty smiled, “I’m glad.”

The blonde returned his smile faintly.

Monty then reached out his hand and grabbed hers gently, “See I told you this was all going to work out.”

Sibella nodded but stayed quiet.

  “If you say so,” she said at last, attempting to smile at him.

Monty sat down next to her in a chair, and Phoebe moved her seat closer to the blonde.

  “Sibella, please, stop,” he begged her, “This is a good thing. This is all working out.”

The blonde sighed as she looked between them.

  “I just- I just feel so guilty,” she admitted.

  “About what?” asked Phoebe.

  “About putting you both through this, about me being a vampire. You shouldn’t have to do this. I wish I had died so that you two would have gotten over me and moved on by now,” said Sibella.

Monty kissed her hand, “No, no you shouldn’t feel guilty about this. This wasn’t your fault, and we don’t mind taking care of you.”

Phoebe nodded in agreement. “We love you, Sibella.”

She looked at them and gave them a small smile.

  “Thank you, I’m sorry. I’ll try to be more cheerful.”

Monty kissed her cheek, as did Phoebe.

  “How was my funeral?” Sibella asked a while later, “Was it like I had planned for it to be?” she asked and both Monty and Phoebe looked at her funny.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized, “I know it’s a morbid question but I want to know.”

  “I almost punched Lionel in the face,” stated Monty bluntly.

  “I expected as much,” laughed Sibella, “I’m sorry. He was such a brute, wasn’t he?”

  “He was, and I’m glad you’re still here instead of him,” murmured Monty.

She smiled at him softly. 

  “I’m here but at this terrible cost,” but as soon as the words left her mouth, she knew that there were laced with an undertone of bitterness and she apologized. “I’m sorry, what I meant to say was that I’m glad I’m here too. I don’t think either of you would be happy if Lionel was in my place.”

  “No, I can assure you we would not be happy,” said Phoebe.

  “And how was the rest of it?” asked the blonde after a moment of silence.

  “The service was lovely, beautiful,” added Phoebe, “But it was sad, so terribly sad…”

 Monty leaned over and kissed her cheek, holding her hand tightly.

Sibella watched the exchange solemnly.

  “You two would have been better off if I had actually died,” she remarked.

Phoebe shook her head, “No, we are better off with you, remember?” Monty nodded in agreement.

Sibella gave them both a small smile, and she sighed contently.

  “Right, right… you’re better off with me.”

She kissed both of their cheeks before retiring to her room as the sun came up for the rest of the day until nightfall.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten:

When daylight came, Phoebe went back to the library to return some of the books that she had already finished and taken notes of. Monty had ended up sleeping in, and Phoebe had left him and Sibella back at the house while she went to the library by herself.

While standing in line, she hummed to herself, trying to pass the time.

  “Well, well, funny seeing you around here,” remarked a man, and Phoebe immediately recognized the voice as Matthew’s.

She turned around, and her face paled upon seeing him again but she managed to attempt a small smile to fake politeness.

  “Hello, Matthew,” she said softly.

  “Hello, Phoebe. There’s been an interesting development in what I was telling you and Monty about earlier,” he told her.

  “Oh?” she asked as she moved up in line, “What’s happened?”

  “She’s vanished, she and her coffin are gone,” Matthew said to her, looking at her as if to see her reaction.

Phoebe kept her face blank, giving him nothing to be suspicious of.

  “Really? I wonder how in the world that happened,” she remarked as she put her books on the counter and gave them to the librarian.

She then tried to make a quick exit for the door but Matthew followed her.

  “Yes, yes, it’s quite peculiar, isn’t it?”

Phoebe swallowed hard, and nodded.

Matthew suddenly blocked her path to move forward as they exited the library.

  “You should know that I’ve taken up investigating into the life of Sibella Hallward… and I’ve found out some very interesting facts.”

Phoebe’s face grew pale at that, “Oh?”

  “Yes, you see, I’ve found out that you and your husband had a, shall we say, strange relationship with Mrs. Holland. You three have been said to have been _very close_.”

Phoebe bit her lip.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she dismissed sharply.

  “Oh, I think you do.”

  “Sibella was a very good friend to my husband and me.”

  “Some would say that she was too good of a friend…”

  “That’s ridiculous,” rebutted the brunette.

  Matthew smirked at her, and leaned in close to her ear, an action that made Phoebe’s skin crawl.

  “I know about what happened between you three.”

Phoebe started to shake, attempting to keep her composure but she was freaking out.

  “You have no proof, I deny all of your accusations,” she declared as she moved past him back to the carriage.

  “I know you’re hiding something from me, and I’m going to find out what!” threatened Matthew.

 Phoebe raced to the carriage, and went home, trying to calm herself as she made the journey back to Highhurst.

 

* * *

 

  “Monty! Monty!” she called out as soon as she entered the castle, searching for her husband.

Monty climbed down the stairs at her distressed calls, looking like he had just woken up.

  “Phoebe, what’s wrong?” he asked her, taking her in his arms as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

  “Matthew knows!” she cried, “Matthew knows about our relationship with Sibella, and he knows that we’re hiding something from him. He cornered me in the library this morning, and told me that he knows, Monty, we have to do something,” she said, trying to keep her voice quiet so that the servants didn’t hear her.

Monty pulled her into the drawing room to finish the conversation.

  “Isn’t it obvious, my darling?” he asked her.

Phoebe looked at him, “What do you mean?”

  “We have to kill Matthew,” he stated.

Phoebe’s face morphed into one of confusion.

  “How?” she asked in a small voice.

  “With his own weapons,” answered Monty as he paced around the room, “I can’t let him kill Sibella, I won’t. Not if I have my way. Matthew will be the only one who dies when all of this ends,” he promised.

Phoebe held him close, her chin resting on his shoulder.

  “Are you sure that this is the only way?” she asked him softly as his arms wrapped around her waist.

  “Yes, yes, I’m sure,” he answered, “We need to protect Sibella before something else happens.”

He pulled away before Phoebe could kiss him.

  “I’m going to go work on a plan, I’ll be in my office if you need me,” he muttered, leaving Phoebe in the drawing room.

Phoebe sighed, and went to go finish reading her books in the library, worried about Monty.

 

* * *

 

When night fell, Sibella found Monty still in his office, tired and exhausted from trying to come up with a plan all day.

She walked into the room hesitantly. “I can come back later if you need to sleep,” she told him, “I just wanted to see you.”

  “No, no, come on in, my darling,” he beckoned her.

Sibella shut the door behind her, now dressed in the nightgown that they had left for her, the dark blue fabric highlighting her eyes.

She caught him looking at the nightgown and she glanced down at it.

  “It’s not really my color, but I appreciate it nonetheless,” she told him.

  “You look beautiful,” stated Monty.

She gave him a smile and came towards him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck, so that her hands were resting on his chest, her chin on his shoulder.

  “What’s wrong, Monty?” she asked quietly, “You look exhausted and defeated.”

  “We think Matthew knows about us, about our relationship with each other, we think he knows that we’re hiding you, and I’ve just been trying to come up with a plan to get him off our tracks.”

  “You should get some sleep,” she advised him, looking at him.

He shook his head.

  “No, I want to spend time with you,” he insisted.

She sighed, and pulled away from him, now moving towards the side of his desk, and leaning against it, her arms crossed.

He looked up at her from his chair.

  “You really should get some-“but she didn’t get to finish her sentence for Monty stood up and kissed her, his hands cupping her face.

The blonde moaned as their lips pressed together and before she knew it, Monty had scooped her up in his arms and had now sat back down, with Sibella sitting across his lap.

His hands ran through her hair gently as his lips moved from her mouth to the crook of her neck.

She closed her eyes in bliss as his hands slid up inch by inch on her thighs, shifting the fabric of the nightgown up as his hands moved.

His lips against hers prevented her from protesting, but she summoned up all of the self-restraint she had as Monty’s fingers grazed her hips, and pulled away.

  “Monty, we can’t,” she managed in between gasps.

  “We can,” he murmured in her ear.

He kissed her again on the mouth, one hand in her hair, grasping it fiercely, the other hand slipped underneath her skirt.

Sibella then took over, her lips kissing at his throat while his hands touched at her skin.

She managed to stay focused on kissing him, and not on the rushing flow of blood that she could feel underneath his skin, flowing through his veins until Monty moans out her name.

_“Sibella….”_

As soon as her name left his lips, her eyes snapped open in a sudden urge of bloodthirstiness.

Her mouth parted, exposing her fangs, ready to plunge into his throat, when she got a hold of herself and pushed Monty away, and backed herself up into the desk, her chest heaving at the close encounter.

Monty looked at her shocked, obviously unaware of what could have happened in those few seconds.

  “I’m sorry,” she got out, her hands trembling in fear, “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

He shook his head.

  “I told you we can’t,” she emphasized, “I almost bit you.”

  “It doesn’t matter, it was great while it lasted,” he said to her softly, giving her a warm smile, “Sibella it’s alright, I’m okay.”

She laughed bitterly and looked down at her feet.

  “I don’t understand how you are so patient and so accepting of this, of me. Monty, I could have killed you and you’re acting as if nothing happened!” she cried.

He got up from the chair, adjusting his pants and fixing his hair as he came over to her.

She flinched away from him, not wanting to hurt him again.

He cupped her cheek with one hand gently, as he moved her face to look at him.

She looked so incredibly guilty, he felt sorry for her. Her eyes were shining with regret and guilt, her lips trembling.

  “I don’t deserve you,” she whispered in a broken voice.

He shook his head, “Yes, yes you do. You deserve both Phoebe and I.”

  “You two are too accepting, too kind… why are you so calm about this, about me being a vampire?”

She was near tears now.

  “Because Phoebe and I love you, and we believe the best of you, and you know that you would never intentionally harm us.”

She looked down at her feet, and he lifted her chin with his hand.

  “We trust you, Sibella, we trust you and we love you.”

He kissed her lips gently, she didn’t fight him this time.

  “Please believe us,” he pleaded with her once he pulled away.

The blonde looked up at him and nodded. “Okay,” she said softly, her eyes still shining with unshed tears.

  “We love you and we trust you,” he repeated to her.

She nodded her head, her confidence slowly coming back with those words.

  “I love and trust you both too,” she replied, and Monty smiled warmly at her.

He took her hand, “Let’s go to bed, it’s almost morning.”

She nodded and followed him into her bedroom.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven:

When the sun shone in through the window, Phoebe wondered where Monty could be as she found his side of the bed to be empty when morning came.

Frowning in worry, she checked in his office, his study, but he was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until she checked in Sibella’s room, that she found him, sleeping on the floor, next to Sibella’s coffin.

  “Monty, Monty, wake up,” she said kneeling by him, shaking him.

His eyes opened, and he got up off the floor after a moment, rubbing his eyes.

  “Sorry, I was up late with Sibella,” he apologized, yawning.

  “It’s alright,” she said smiling at him, “I just didn’t know where you were.”

  “I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you,” he told her.

  “It’s fine, Monty,” insisted Phoebe.

Monty kissed her head and gave her a small smile before glancing at the coffin on the floor.

  “It makes me sad, thinking of her in there,” he remarked suddenly.

  “I know, but she’s safe in there, she’s basically just sleeping, Monty,” Phoebe reminded him gently.

He sighed softly. “I know.” He paused.

  “She kissed me last night,” he started after a moment.

Phoebe looked at him.

  “And?”

  “And then she almost attacked me. I was fine, but she was pretty shaken up.”

  “We just need to be careful,” advised Phoebe, holding his hands, “She’s not the same as she used to be.”

  “I disagree,” said Monty softly glancing at the coffin, “She’s still our Sibella, underneath it all.”

Phoebe stayed quiet for a few moments before she began to speak again.

  “Remember the last time we saw her, before her funeral...” she started.

 Monty nodded, “She had come over for a visit, and we took a walk in the rose garden.”

Phoebe smiled.  “That was a lovely day.”

  “It was typical, considering Sibella was there,” said Monty.

  “You adored her that day, don’t lie!” she chided him.

He looked at her and rolled his eyes.

  “I did, but she was… well, she was Sibella that day.”

Phoebe shook her head, “Yes, she was. But it was still a lovely day.”

  “Yes, yes it was,” agreed Monty reluctantly, thinking back on that day.

_The blonde had appeared at the gates of Highhurst that afternoon, when the sun was still shining. Monty and Phoebe had just finished their afternoon tea when the butler had brought in the blonde woman to see them, though the blonde came over so much that an introduction really wasn’t needed or necessary._

_Sibella had looked beautiful that day, dressed in a light pink gown with a white hat, her hair curled around her shoulders, her face bright, her lips painted red, but then again Sibella always looked beautiful._

_After the butler had left, the blonde had eagerly went to Phoebe and Monty, hugging them both happily._

_Phoebe suggested that they take a walk in the rose gardens, and Sibella and Monty had agreed, leaving the servants inside._

_The sun shone brightly on them as they strolled through the bushes and talked._

_“I just simply can’t wait to get away from Lionel. I wish he would go on more business trips, but he’s attempting to start a political career and he says that all of his allies are here in England,” the blonde pouted._

_“What a shame,” replied Monty as he took her hand, and pulled her in close, his lips at her ear, causing her to giggle girlishly, “We wish he would go away too, so we could have some time alone with you.”_

_He kissed her on the lips hard, and she smiled as they pulled away._

_“Lionel doesn’t kiss me like that,” she told him._

_Phoebe and Monty just laughed._

_The brunette took her other hand and kissed her lips as well._

_“I can rather imagine. Lionel’s only one person, and here you have two people to kiss you,” said Phoebe._

_The blonde giggled, her face blushing._

_“I do like spending time here, both of you are so attentive to me.”_

_“We love you,” said Monty, wrapping an arm around her waist as they walked._

_“Monty!” she scolded him, “What if a servant sees?”_

_Monty rolled his eyes at her typical paranoia._

_“Don’t worry, Sibella. I’ll pay them off to keep their mouths shut. They’d rather be working here than out on the street, I can assure you. The threat of unemployment should keep them quiet.”_

_The blonde bit her lip, not so sure._

_“I can get one of them to bring you some sweets,” he murmured to her._

_The blonde looked up at him brightly, a smile on her face._

_“Would you?” she asked._

_He nodded, and Phoebe squeezed her hand tightly._

_“Lionel never lets me eat sweets anymore,” Sibella said bitterly, “He says he doesn’t want me to ruin my figure.”_

_“Lionel doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Phoebe argued._

_“He just wants to show you off, he doesn’t care or cherish you,” continued Monty. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought of you like a china doll, pretty to look at but something he doesn’t want to touch or play with…”_

_Sibella paused in her walking, and glanced at the roses that were in full bloom in front of her, Monty’s teasing of Lionel a humming sound in her ears._

_“He does love me,” she protested softly, “And I am not a china doll to him!”_

_“No, he doesn’t love you,” argued Monty, his voice hard, “and I believe you are a china doll to him. All he wants to do is control you and your figure so that you can stay his perfect little wife. He doesn’t love you, Sibella!”_

_She whirled around and looked at him fiercely, her eyes flashing dangerously._

_“He does, in his own way.”_

_“Not like we do,” countered Monty._

_Sibella glared at him, her jaw set in a tense configuration. Phoebe remained quiet, looking uncomfortable at the usual fight Monty and Sibella were having._

_Sibella huffed in irritation. She could handle a bit of joking about her husband and how boring he was, but Monty assuming that Lionel didn’t care about her always somehow hit a nerve with her. It reminded her that she didn’t marry for love; that she married for wealth and position. And every-time Monty brought it up that Lionel didn’t love her, Sibella got angry, angry at herself, at Monty, at Lionel._

_“I don’t want to fight about this today,” she said at last, turning back around to look at the roses, “Where are those chocolates you promised me?”_

_Monty bit his lip._

_“I’ll go get them,” said Phoebe, picking up her skirts._

_She left to go call a servant to get her the chocolates Monty bought specifically for Sibella, leaving the blonde and the Earl alone in the gardens._

_“You should leave him,” said Monty, looking at her, “Leave Lionel and come here. You’re happier here I know you are.”_

_“I can’t,” said the blonde softly, “You know I can’t.”_

_“Phoebe and I want you here,” he insisted, stepping towards her and caressing her cheek with his hand._

_She avoided his gaze, “You know I can’t.”_

_“We still want you here,” his reply caught her attention. “We love you.”_

_She looked up at him and in that moment, she looked pale, tired, and scared. Her façade that usually kept up was cracking, he could see it in her eyes._

_“Sibella,” he murmured leaning in to kiss her, “my darling…”_

_She swallowed hard and moved away from him, catching a glimpse of Phoebe coming towards them with the chocolates._

_She composed herself before Phoebe arrived, and she saw Monty trying to hide the pain and longing in his face._

_She smiled at the brunette as she gave her a box of chocolates._

_“Thank you, Phoebe.”_

_Monty again wrapped an arm around her waist, the other around Phoebe’s._

_“I wish it could be like this always, with the three of us together like this” expressed Phoebe._

_The blonde sighed sadly._

_“We’re together now,” said Monty softly, looking at both of them as the sun started to dim because clouds were beginning to cover it, “My two girls…”_

Monty was pulled out of his memories by Phoebe leaning her head on his shoulder.

  “Who would have thought that a week later she would have been dead? Or Undead I should say?” asked the brunette.

Monty was quiet.

  “I wonder if she started getting sick that day, if that vampire started to watch her that day?” he mused.

Phoebe looked at him, “I don’t know… I hope not.”

  “I love her,” said Monty suddenly, “I love her, despite all of this.”

  “I know you do. I love her too,” said Phoebe softly, looking at him. She lightly touched his face and then laid her hand on his chest.

  “I won’t let Matthew hurt her,” he uttered looking at the coffin once more.

  “I won’t either,” promised Phoebe.

  “We have to stop him,” said Monty.

She nodded.

He started to go out of the room, and into the hallway. Phoebe followed him.

  “What if we fail?” she asked in a quiet voice.

  “We won’t, we can’t,” said Monty, his voice firm.

Phoebe nodded once again.

  “Let’s get to work on a plan,” declared Monty.

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve:

  “No, no this is madness, I won’t let you two do this!” Sibella protested as she stood in her bedroom, looking at Phoebe and Monty with her arms crossed, her pink nightgown crushed against her body in agitation and nerves.

  “I promise, Sibella, we’ll be alright,” Monty swore. His face was calm, unlike Sibella’s which was lined with worry and sadness.

Sibella bit her lip, “I don’t believe you. How can you possibly be alright? This is insane!”

She began pacing in nervousness at the ridiculous plan Phoebe and Monty had just proposed to her five minutes ago.

Phoebe took a step towards the blonde, her lavender nightgown swishing around her as she did so, “Sibella, darling, we have to do this. This plan will work.”

  “It sounds like a madman’s plan,” rebutted the blonde sharply, “You’re going to get yourselves both killed!”

Phoebe sighed, not liking that they were upsetting Sibella, but knowing that there was no other way.

 They had to kill Matthew.

  “Sibella it’s really quite simple,” said Monty, “We’re going to telephone Matthew and say that we’ve seen you back at the graveyard, and that we want to help kill you. Then I’ll ask him for one of his weapons so that I can protect Phoebe and myself from you, and then when he thinks he’s got you, I’ll drive the stake into his heart and kill him.”

  “It won’t work,” cried the blonde, “I know it won’t. He’s going to turn around and kill you both, I know it! He’ll know it’s a set up!”

  “It’s the only way, Sibella, we have to do this so that you’re safe,” said Phoebe.

  “No, I won’t have you get yourselves killed over me,” protested Sibella, shaking her head. “What if he comes and decides to kill you instead? What if he decides not to bring the stake? What if instead he brings a gun and ends up shooting the both of you right where you stand?”

  “Sibella, please, calm down!” insisted Monty, “Nothing like that is going to happen.”

She paused in her pacing, looking worried. “You don’t know that. You shouldn’t be doing this.”

  Monty stepped towards her and ran a hand over her cheek, “Darling we have to, for your sake.”

Sibella shook her head once more.

  “No, no, if anyone’s going to kill him, it should be me,” she reasoned, looking up at him, her eyes pleading.

 “No, it’s too risky, he’ll kill you. He has the tools to defeat you.”

Sibella sighed in aggravation.

  “We are doing this, Sibella. We are going to save you,” said Monty.

She bit her lip again, chewing on it worriedly, and she sighed, defeated.

They stood in silence for a while before Phoebe’s yawning disturbed the peace.

The blonde looked to Phoebe sympathetically.

  “You should get some rest,” Sibella told her softly, “It’s late, darling.”

Phoebe shook her head, still yawning, “No, no-“

“Phoebe, it’s alright,” insisted Monty, glancing at her and then back at Sibella, “Go to bed, I’ll be in soon.”

Phoebe left after a few moments, kissing her two lovers goodnight before she did so, and then Sibella and Monty stood in the room by themselves.

  “Monty, please, I wish you would just leave this alone. I can’t bear the thought of losing you both,” Sibella begged him, reaching out and curling her fingers around his dark maroon robe to keep him close to her.

  “You won’t lose us,” said Monty.

  “I’m frightened for you two, I’m afraid that this won’t work,” admitted Sibella, looking at him with scared eyes, “Matthew seems so dangerous.”

Monty stepped away from her and put his hands on his shoulders comfortingly.

  “Don’t be afraid, this isn’t the first time I’ve killed someone,” Monty said darkly.

It took him half a second to realize that he had slipped up and revealed something he shouldn’t have.

He dropped his hands from her shoulders in shock that he had slipped up.

Monty stood still for a moment, waiting for her reaction, his features frozen.

His heart was pounding. Sibella now knew his secret, the secret he had tried so hard to keep from everyone about how he got his Earldom.

He glanced at her, waiting for her to start yelling and screaming at him.

But she doesn’t.

Sibella doesn’t look shocked like Monty had been expecting her to be. She looked rather calm.

  “You knew?” he asked, looking at the recognition in her face.

She nodded slowly.

  “I suspected as much…”

Monty blew out of a sigh of relief and relaxed.

  “And you’re not angry?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. It’s rather hard to process the fact that the man you love is a murderer… but then again, I’m a murderer too, so I guess we can call it even,” she said softly.

Monty took her hand, “I did it for you. It was always for you.”

She paused, “Does Phoebe know?”

He shook his head, “No.”

  “Oh, Monty…” The blonde sighed, pulling her hand out of his grasp.

  “I couldn’t tell her that I murdered her brother, much less her entire family,” he said softly.

  “You need to tell her.”

Sibella’s face was serious.

  “I can’t.” Monty turned away from her, ashamed, “It’s better if she doesn’t know.”

  “I disagree,” said the blonde.

  “She’ll hate me, Sibella,” reasoned Monty, looking back at her, “I’m a murderer!”

Sibella shook her head, “She won’t. I’ve killed before, because of my condition, and she doesn’t hate me.”

  “That’s because you can’t help it!” pointed out Monty, “I made the choice to kill her family.”

  “Monty…” she started, stepping towards him, but he pulled away from her and shook his head.

   “We’re going to set up Matthew tomorrow night at your crypt,” he said softly, changing the subject.

  “Monty-” she tried to keep him on the subject of telling Phoebe but he would have none of it.

  Sibella was quiet for a while.

  “I’m coming with you,” she declared at last.

Monty looked at her, “No, it’s too dangerous.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “No, Sibella!”

  “If I come, maybe I can help. If something goes wrong, then I’ll be there to help,” she pleaded with him.

Monty sighed and then kissed her gently, looking into her eyes.

  “Alright, you can come, but you’ll have to stay out of sight.”

She nodded, “I promise.”

He caressed her cheek softly. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” she replied.

 She pulled away after a moment.

  “You should get some rest, tomorrow night is going to take a lot out of you.”

He nodded, kissing her once more before leaving.

Sibella was left in her room to her thoughts, and she couldn’t shake the feeling of being paranoid about tomorrow night.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen:

The graveyard looked eerie and creepy as Phoebe, Monty, and Sibella stood there waiting for Matthew to arrive.

The night air sent chills down their spines as they waited, the cold lingering in the air causing Phoebe and Monty to shudder.

The clouds were slowly moving across the night sky, looking like the remnants of spirits gone by.

Sibella paced nervously between the graves, biting at her nails in the dead silence. Her dark blue dress that she had borrowed from Phoebe, mixed into the sky as she paced, her golden hair the only thing that gave her away in the moonlight.

"Monty, this is a mistake," she moaned, "Let's just go."

"No, we're not leaving, Sibella. Everything's going to be alright. Nothing bad will happen to either Phoebe or I, I promise," said Monty, looking at her.

"If anything does start to go wrong though, I'll be stepping in," swore the blonde.

"No." insisted Monty, but Sibella ignored him.

"There is nothing you can do to stop me, I'm here now," she snarled at him.

"Shush, both of you! I think I see Matthew coming this way," Phoebe piped up.

Monty looked where Phoebe was looking and saw Matthew walking towards them.

"You're right, he's coming. Sibella, hide, please," he looked at her, his voice pleading with her.

She sighed, feeling her chest tighten but she hid in the shadows at his request, disappearing behind her crypt.

Matthew walked up to Phoebe and Monty, coming into view a few moments after Sibella disappeared.

"I got your call," he said loudly as he stepped towards them.

Through the darkness, they could see that Matthew was wearing a white collared shirt with a tan jacket, and dark pants. Though he was dressed plainly, he still looked menacing.

Monty in contrast was dressed in a more casual suit, one that was black, so that he was almost invisible in the dark cemetery.

Monty stepped towards Phoebe as Matthew walked to them, feeling protective of her.

Phoebe's hands shook but she tried her best to appear calm. She smoothed out her purple dress with her hands, trying to stay composed.

"Good, I'm glad you did. We think Sibella has come back to her crypt," said Phoebe, with a slight hint of uneasiness in her voice.

"Really?"

Matthew doesn't believe them. Phoebe and Monty could hear it in his voice. He knew that they were lying.

Phoebe bit her lip nervously, not liking where this was going.

"Yes, we saw her last night," Monty attempted to keep the charade going.

Matthew started to pace around the graveyard, mulling this all over.

Phoebe reached for Monty's hand and grasped it tightly, both of them looking at Matthew for a reaction.

"She'll be here soon," Monty interrupted the dead silence, "Did you bring the tools we asked you to bring?"

Matthew turned to them, stopping his pacing.

"I might have."

Phoebe swallowed hard at that. She glanced at Monty nervously.

"I was thinking," Monty started, "that I could use the stake to kill her," he suggested.

Monty let go of Phoebe's hand, trying to appear more confident.

Matthew narrowed his eyes, and a sly smirk made its way to his lips.

"And why would you want to do that?"

There was a tense moment of silence.

"Sibella was your mistress," continued Matthew, "You loved her, you and Phoebe both. Why would you want to kill her?"

"She's a monster now," said Monty after a moment, "She's going to hurt people, maybe even kill them."

Matthew doesn't buy it, it's clear from his face that he doesn't believe a word Monty just said.

"She's here, isn't she?" he suddenly asked, "You've been hiding her from me, haven't you?"

He laughed, "Where is she? I know she's here!" he insisted.

Phoebe and Monty glanced at each other, but refused to give up Sibella's location, the fact that she was hiding in the shadows near them.

Matthew reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a stake.

"You're not going to kill her, we won't let you!" declared Phoebe upon seeing the stake.

Matthew just laughed off her threat. He reached into his other pocket and pulled out a knife.

"Do you really think you're going to stop me?"

Monty stepped towards him, his hands shaking in anger, "Yes, I do. We will stop you."

Matthew tilted his head, ready for the challenge.

But, suddenly, out of the shadows came Sibella, teeth bared and growling at the sight of her loved ones being in harm's way.

Matthew turned around at the sound of leaves being crunched and branches snapping as Sibella came out into the moonlight.

"My God," murmured Matthew in awe upon seeing her, "She's real… I was right."

He couldn't keep her eyes off of her, he couldn't believe that this vampire that he had been hunting for was finally right in front of him.

"I was right!" he cried, laughing excitedly, staring at Sibella.

His hands were down by his sides, in one hand the stake, in the other the knife.

With Matthew distracted by the appearance of Sibella, Monty made his move.

He lunged and tackled Matthew to the ground, wrestling with him for either of his weapons, being careful not to get stabbed himself.

Matthew fought hard, but he was no match for Monty.

The vampire hunter managed to get a few good swipes in with the knife at Monty's hands and arms before Monty overpowered him. Matthew even managed to nick Monty's cheek, the cut bleeding as soon as the blade was gone.

After what seemed like forever, Monty finally managed to wrench the stake out of Matthew's grasp, the knife being knocked out of Matthew's hands, out of either of their reach.

Without hesitating, Monty stabbed the stake into Matthew's heart, killing him instantly.

Matthew's blood stained the stake and his clothes, the deep crimson spilling from his wound even though Monty knew he wasn't breathing anymore.

There was a tense silence for a moment, all that was heard was their soft breathing, and the owls.

Sibella stopped growling, Phoebe wrapped her arms around herself in worry as they waited for Monty to get up and declare Matthew dead for good.

"You can have him, if you want, he's finished," Monty said to Sibella, getting off of Matthew and taking a few steps back to comfort Phoebe, who looked slightly horrified but relieved at the whole thing.

Sibella obliged, draining Matthew of all of his blood as she bit him.

After she was done, she looked up at Monty, wiping her mouth.

"You're bleeding," she told him, looking at the cuts on his hands and arms.

Monty looked down at his palms, seeing the slices that Matthew had given them. Blood was spilling from his hands.

"Oh, Monty," cried Phoebe, pulling out her handkerchief and pressing it against his hands.

She then looked up at his cheek, and wiped the blood away with her fingers gently.

"He hurt you," said Phoebe.

"I'm alright, these wounds aren't so bad," Monty said softly, "Don't worry."

He looked back at Sibella, who now stood up.

"Is it over?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Monty nodded.

"Yes, you're safe now."

"Am I?" challenged the blonde as she looked at Monty, who was holding Phoebe in his arms, the handkerchief wrapped around one of his hands.

"Yes, yes, you are."

Sibella looked at the body of Matthew and sighed.

"I guess you're right," she said uncertainly.

She went over to Monty and Phoebe.

Phoebe looked at her, relieved that she was alright.

"I thought for a moment I was going to lose you and Monty," she admitted, taking Sibella's hand, holding onto it tightly.

The blonde shook her head, "No, never. We're too smart for that. We would have killed him no matter what had happened."

Phoebe sighed. "I'm so glad he's gone now."

"Me too," said Sibella. "It'll be nice to not have someone trying to kill me all the time."

Monty and Phoebe smiled softly at that.

"Let's go home," Sibella said, inspecting Monty's hands, "Get you cleaned up."

Monty nodded.

He then glanced over at Matthew's body, "What should we do with him?" he asked.

Sibella bit her lip.

"Leave him here to rot."

"That's too suspicious," said Monty, shaking his head.

"We could bury him," suggested Phoebe.

"Or dump him in a river."

Sibella looked serious.

"Would that work?" asked Phoebe.

Sibella nodded. "I'll go do it. I'll meet you both at the house."

She then kissed them goodbye, and they left while she dragged Matthew's body and dumped him in the river.

As she watched the body sink, after she had tied him down with some stones and rocks, Sibella felt an elated feeling of freedom.

She watched as Matthew sank deeper and deeper into the river, staring at the glassy surface that separated them with a fierce look in her eyes, until he disappeared from her view.

She stood at the bank of the river for a while longer, just staring at the water in the moonlight.

She glanced at her reflection for a while, really seeing herself in her new form, as a vampire.

Her skin was pale, her eyes dark and bloodthirsty, her lips stained red.

But she still looked like herself, somewhat.

Sibella curled her lip back in order to see her own fangs, they glimmered in the night air like pearls shaped like daggers.

She was distracted then, by a branch snapping behind her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something… or someone behind her.

In the water's reflection, she saw someone with a pale face like hers, and dark eyes dart in and out of the shadows, but by the time she turned around to see who was there, they were gone.

She felt strange about the whole thing, about who… or what had just escaped her sight.

She wondered, though she had a faint suspicion, who it was. She shuddered at the prospect of it all.

She glanced back at the water and then after a moment, went back to Highhurst to check on Monty and Phoebe.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen:

  “These cuts really are bad Monty,” Sibella said softly as she wrapped one of Monty’s hands in bandages carefully with Phoebe wrapping the other one beside her.

He winced as she wrapped them up gently; the open raw flesh stinging as the bandage covered it. The blood had stopped bleeding by then, and they had already washed Monty’s hands, which had been painful enough in itself.

  “I’ll be fine, really,” Monty rolled his eyes at their overprotective care.

  “You should have been more careful,” she scolded him, cutting off the extra bandage, and handing the scissors to Phoebe so that she could do the same.

  “I was being careful,” he insisted, and he moved his hands, causing Sibella to glare at him as if to tell him to stay still.

  “Obviously not careful enough, darling,” said Phoebe softly.

She put the scissors down, finished wrapping up his other hand, and looked up at him.

  “I didn’t know he was going to bring a knife as well,” Monty defended himself.

  Sibella sighed, “I’m just glad you’re alright, and that Matthew is dead.”

Monty put one of his hands under her chin, the bandage feeling coarse against her skin as he did so.

He then kissed her softly.

  “I am too,” he said as he pulled away.

He then kissed Phoebe the same way, making sure to give them both equal affection.

He paused for a moment, looking between Sibella and Phoebe.

  “We’re going to have to fire all of the servants now. We can’t keep up this charade of hiding Sibella from them, they’re starting to suspect things,” he told them both.

Phoebe agreed.

  “I can clean up the house and cook. I’d be glad to,” she said brightly.

  “You don’t have to do that,” said Sibella, protesting as she leaned back against the wall of the bathroom.

  “I want to, Sibella,” insisted Phoebe as she put the medical tools away.

Monty smirked at them.

  “Don’t fight with Phoebe, Sibella, you’ll lose for sure.”

Sibella scowled, but her face softened as soon as Phoebe planted a sweet kiss on her cheek.

  “Fine,” Sibella relented, “But I’ll step in if you wear yourself out.”

Phoebe smiled at her, “Alright, that’s fine with me. It will be fun to clean the house and cook.”

Sibella just shook her head at that and begrudgingly smiled.

Monty smiled at Sibella as well, and took her hand, kissing it.

  “I’m so glad you’re safe,” he told her.

  “I know you are,” said Sibella quietly, “I know.”

He let go of her hand, and sighed, tired and sleepy.

  “You look exhausted, darling,” started Phoebe, looking at Monty, “You should get some rest.

They went into their bedroom together, as the servants were once again away from the castle.

  Monty then laid down on the bed, and grinned at the two women, patting either side of the bed, waiting for them to join him.

The two women followed suit, lying down next to him, on either side.

  “You made sure Matthew’s gone?” Monty asked Sibella after a long period of silence.

  “Yes, he’s gone… swimming with the fishes as they say,” she said quietly as she looked at him, and danced her fingers across his chest lightly.

Monty laughed slightly at that, and both Phoebe and Sibella had small grins on their face as well.

  “I’m glad he can’t hurt you anymore,” said Phoebe, looking at the blonde.

Sibella smiled, “Me too.”

  Monty looked over at Sibella as her fingers traced along his chest.

  “You look troubled,” he remarked, “Did something happen when you were disposing of Matthew’s body?”

Sibella swallowed hard, trying to keep her composure, but her fingers stopped dancing across his chest.

  “Sibella….”

She sighed, “It’s nothing… I just… it’s nothing.”

Monty sat up, “Sibella. Tell us what happened,” he demanded.

  “I just-I thought I saw something when I was drowning his body in the river,” she got out softly.

  “Like what?” Monty asked.

  “I thought- I thought I saw the vampire that bit me,” she admitted.

Monty’s face blanched. “Do you really? Sibella, are you sure?”

  “Yes, I believe I’m absolutely sure. It had to have been him. He must still be lurking around the area, maybe that was the vampire that Matthew was originally trying to hunt down,” said Sibella.

Monty hugged Phoebe closer to his body, and glanced at Sibella with worry.

  “I won’t let him hurt either of you,” promised Sibella firmly, “I could never live with myself if that happened.”

  “We trust you,” said Phoebe.

 Then Phoebe paused, parting her lips as if she wanted to say something.

  “Sibella,” she started quietly, “Can I ask you something?”

The blonde perked her head up, “Mhm, of course.”

  “What happened the night that you… you realized you were a vampire? I don’t mean to pry, it’s just… you haven’t talked about it before…”

Sibella’s face turned solemn and she paused for a moment before speaking again.

  “I originally thought I had been buried alive… when I woke up and found out that I was trapped in my own coffin. I didn’t think that I had died, I thought that someone had made a mistake… the doctor or Lionel or someone else and that they had only presumed me to be dead. I scratched at the lid, nearly broke all of my nails down to the skin. I finally got it open, I’m not sure how. Then I found out I was in my family’s crypt and I somehow opened that door as well….I suppose it was the nonhuman strength that did it. When I got out into the night air, I was terrified, I had never been more frightened in my life,” at this point, Monty wrapped an arm around her and held her close.

  “What happened after that?” ventured Phoebe softly.

  “I felt this uncontrollable urge for blood. It was frightening really. It took complete hold of me, I couldn’t think of anything else. It engulfed all of my senses and I had to quench it. I ended up slaying these two stray dogs that were wandering around the cemetery. After that I realized that something must have happened to me. I remembered that hazy memory of that strange man coming into my room, and I wondered what in the world he did to me. I wanted more blood then, I couldn’t help it. But it wasn’t enough… and so I had an idea.”

  “What was your idea, my love?” asked Monty, looking at her curiously.

  “I had the idea that I was going to kill Lionel,” said Sibella seriously, her eyes hard.

  “But you didn’t, right? They said he died of a heart attack,” Phoebe interrupted.

Sibella nodded as she brushed back a piece of hair from her face, not before intertwining it around her index finger.

“Yes, I didn’t get the chance to kill him, though it would have been rather very satisfactory if I had offed the old codger.”

  “So… what happened?” asked Phoebe quietly, sitting up so she could see Sibella better.

  “I had come up with this elaborate plan while I was walking to our house. I planned to murder him by coming in through the door, sneaking in and killing him in his bed, but not before I woke him and told him what he did to me.”

She continued after she paused.

  “I was going to sneak in, but then I decided that it would be more fun to let him know that I was there, alive and well, so I knocked on the front door. Lionel opened it after a few moments.”

 She started to laugh darkly, “You should have seen his face!” she exclaimed, laughing slightly, “He looked petrified. I’ve never seen him so scared in his life, his face was actually full of emotion for once… And then I gave him a smirk, it probably looked terrifying from his point of view, and then I straightened myself, and said, “Hello Lionel,” in a seductive yet dangerous tone, and then before I could do anything, he fell to the floor in a heap, dead on the spot. I scared him so much his heart gave out from the shock…. I would have enjoyed draining him of life… it’s not fair he went so quickly when I suffered so much and for so long.”

  “Then you came to see me,” said Monty.

Sibella nodded. “Yes, after that, I saw no use more use of him, and I fled from Lionel’s and I came to see you.”

  “I thought I was dreaming when I first saw you,” Monty murmured, his eyes met hers.

Sibella laughed, “Yes, I remember that quite well. You were very insistent on the fact that you were dreaming.”

  “That must have been terrible for you,” said Phoebe quietly, after pondering over what Sibella had told her.

  “It was,” replied Sibella, her voice pained as if she was reliving it all over again.

Monty leaned over and kissed her head softly.

  “Now you’re safe though,” he told her.

Sibella smiled at him.

He wrapped his arms around both of them.

  “Now what do we do?” she asked.

  “Now, we relax,” replied Monty.

Sibella rolled her eyes while Phoebe smiled and laughed, cuddling closer to him.

  “If you say so,” said the blonde.

Monty kissed her cheek, and then kissed Phoebe’s.

Sibella, against her will, smiled softly.

  “My girls,” Monty murmured, “I’m so happy I have my girls.”

They leaned against him, feeling peaceful and content.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen:

With the house devoid of servants, Sibella, Monty, and Phoebe were left to do whatever they pleased, when they pleased. It was quite a pleasant arrangement. Monty and Phoebe had adopted Sibella’s lifestyle, to make things easier for everyone, now sleeping during the day with the curtains drawn and awaking at night.

Matthew’s death was reported in the papers, the police having found his body in the river a week after he had been reported missing. A fisherman and his son had stumbled upon the body in the river. The police, as of right now, had no suspects in mind.

The weeks went on at Highhurst Castle, the structure being undisturbed for a while. The halls were quiet without the servants running about, many rooms were left unoccupied by the three people living in the house.

It was their safe haven for the time being, a place where they could live in peace and not be disturbed by the outside world, or by people who wanted to hurt Sibella.

Rumors, of course, circulated throughout the town.

There were whispers that Phoebe and Monty were dead, since no one ever saw them come out of the castle. No one received any invitations or calls from them, even though plenty were sent to Phoebe and Monty from other people.

It was like they had disappeared.

Of course, these rumors were based on the fact that Phoebe and Monty were now sleeping during the day, and that they were awake at night.

There were another rumors, whispers and gossip that both of them had gone mad after Sibella’s death, that they refused to go outside.

Even still, Phoebe and Monty didn’t care about the circulating gossip, they were just glad that Sibella was alright, and safe.

Sibella was glad of that too, she was happy that she was able to spend time with Monty and Phoebe peacefully.

Sibella was kept satisfied with Phoebe and Monty stealing blood from the hospital in the dead of night, which wasn’t their finest moral moment, but nonetheless, it was for their dear Sibella so they believed it to be a good cause.

They believed it was justified because it kept Sibella from killing people. Anything was better than letting their beloved blonde senselessly murder innocent people.

And so, they spent their days sleeping and their nights staying close to each other, laughing, kissing, and enjoying each other’s company.

For a while, things were good, peaceful, and calm.

 

* * *

 

One night Sibella, Monty, and Phoebe were lying down on the bed together, the moonlight streaming in from the window.

Monty and Sibella were cuddled close together on the bed, having just finished their few quiet moments of heated kissing, while Phoebe sat on the other side of the bed, content with reading her book as she braided her hair.

A storm appeared to be rolling in from the distance, dark clouds scattered the horizon, but none of them had concerns about that right now.

Sibella laid in Monty’s arms, her bare legs entangled with his covered ones, the black fabric of his pants rubbing against her skin. Her pink slip reflected the moonlight as she laid there on the bed with Monty’s arms encircling her, with her head on his chest.

  “I wonder if my parents miss me,” mused the blonde softly as she turned her golden head to look at Monty, “I miss them terribly.”

  “They were heartbroken at the funeral, darling,” said Monty softly, holding her hand. He kissed it. “They were destroyed to find out that you had died.”

  “But do you think they still miss me, even now? It’s almost been a year since I died, do you think they’ve forgotten about me?” Sibella asked quietly.

  “They miss you, I know they do,” Phoebe said, looking over at her and up and out of her book. Her glasses had now fallen down to her nose but she pushed them up again with a few fingers, “They loved you very much.”

  “They would never forget about you,” said Monty as he kissed her hand once more before letting go of it.

  “I wish I could see them,” sighed Sibella, “But I know I can’t. It’s too risky.”

Phoebe kissed her cheek, “I’m sorry, darling.” She looked sympathetic as she set down her book and took off her glasses.

She got up so she could join them, settling herself down next to Monty.

  “I want them to know that I’m actually happy now… which I never thought I would be,” said Sibella bitterly.

  “You were rather wretched with Lionel, weren’t you?” Monty murmured as he stroked her golden hair with his fingers lightly.

 She nodded, “I was so miserable, so terribly unhappy. I hated him so much.”

  “Well, you’re happy now, aren’t you?” he asked her with a smile.

She smiled softly as she looked up at him, “Yes, I am so blissfully happy now. Everything is working out so well.”

He pulled her closer to him, his arm wrapping around the pink fabric of her silk slip, “Do you remember the first time we met?”

She grinned at the memory as she laid her head on his chest, her fingers dancing across the white fabric of his shirt, “Yes. The wind had taken my scarf from around my neck as I was walking home from school, and you were such a dear and you fetched it for me.”

  “I caught sight of your face and I thought that you were the prettiest girl in the world,” Monty murmured in her ear. “And I gave you back your scarf, and I deemed from that moment on that I would try to be worthy of you and your love. I knew I had to have you.”

Sibella grinned and bit her lip seductively, “Oh, did you really?”

  “Yes,” he answered, pulling her close for a fiery kiss before breaking away and smiling at her.

  “I was head over heels in love with you,” he told her.

She smirked at him, “I gathered that, from the fact that you followed me around like a little puppy dog all the time,” she laughed.

  “We were so young back then,” Monty remarked, kissing her cheek.

 Sibella nodded. “We were. We couldn’t have been more than seven or eight.”

  “I loved you the moment I laid eyes on you,” he told her and she grinned.

  “And after that we realized we lived near each other and you were practically over my house every day,” said Sibella, sitting up.

  “I liked seeing you,” said Monty, and Sibella smirked at that.

  “You always tried so hard to make me happy, to please me.”

  “I loved you,” said Monty as he kissed her lips softly. “I still love you.”

Sibella grinned as she pulled away, “I loved you as well, and I do still adore you.”

Monty then pulled Phoebe closer to him, her giggling all the while his arm wrapped around her blue satin nightgown.

  “And I met Phoebe when I met her brother, Henry,” he said looking down at her. He kissed her head and tried to hide the regret that was shining in his eyes from her, since he had murdered her brother.

  Phoebe smiled though, oblivious to Monty’s regret.

  “Yes, I remember, he thought you the gayest person he had ever met,” she commented, chuckling to herself.

She then paused and grew quiet, her heart heavy with sadness at the loss of her brother. She leaned her head on Monty’s chest and sighed mournfully.

  “I miss him,” she whispered.

Monty kissed her head again, “I know you do,” he said in a tight voice, “I know you do.”

Sibella shared a glance with Monty, her face telling him that he needed to tell Phoebe about what happened with her brother soon.

Monty bit his lip and nodded, not before kissing Phoebe’s head once more.

  “Phoebe, darling, can we go talk somewhere private?” he then asked her.

She looked up at him, confused. “Oh-of-of course, my love, what about?”

She sat up, her face furrowed in suspicion.

  “Just… just about something I should have told you about a long time ago,” admitted Monty quietly as he took her hand and led her into the next room for some privacy.

Sibella stayed in the room that Phoebe and Monty had previously been in, wanting to give them some privacy. She felt bad for Phoebe, for what she was about to learn, but it was for the best. Monty couldn’t keep lying to her. It wasn’t fair to Phoebe.

The blonde got up from the bed and began pacing, her slipper adorned feet quiet as she walked around, glancing at the window every once in a while, seeing the rain that was coming down in sheets and the lightning that was cracking across the sky. Every few minutes or so a burst of thunder would erupt from the skies.

Even still, with all of that noise going on, she could still hear loud and clear the conversation that was going on in the next room.

 Sibella felt uncomfortable as she heard harsh words exchanged by both Monty and Phoebe, mostly Phoebe though, as Monty revealed that he had murdered Henry and the rest of Phoebe’s family.

  “Phoebe, my love, can you ever forgive me?” Monty begged as Phoebe sobbed in the next room.

  “How can you even ask for my forgiveness?” cried Phoebe, “You murdered Henry, you killed him! He was your friend, he trusted you!” Her voice grew shrill now, and her once trembling tone had now turned to shrieks, “I trusted you! And you murdered my family!”

There was a moment of silence before Monty said anything.

  “I do love you, I know I killed your family, but I swear to you that I do love you,” Monty attempted to make amends. “I never meant to hurt you.”

  “Why? Why did you kill them?” asked Phoebe, crying.

  “I wanted the earldom…. To impress Sibella.”

Phoebe was silent. Sibella thought she heard her throw something at Monty before she started yelling again.

  “ _YOU DID THIS FOR HER_? You killed my entire family _for her_?”

  “Yes, I did,” Monty answered honestly, “But along the way I fell in love with you.”

  “Does Sibella know?” Phoebe inquired in between sniffles. “Does she know you’re a murderer?”

  “She suspected, yes,” Monty told her.

  “And she knows that you killed my brother?”

  “Yes,” admitted Monty after a moment.

Phoebe dissolved into tears once more, and the next thing Sibella knew she heard Phoebe slam the door. It was a harsh sound, and it was then accompanied by Phoebe running down the stairs, her slippers causing the sound to be quieter than normal.

Sibella peeked her head out of the room, and saw that Phoebe was heading towards the door, the blue robe Phoebe had tied around her nightgown was flowing as she ran towards the front of the house, and Sibella raced to follow her with Monty right behind her.

  “Phoebe! Phoebe, wait!” Sibella cried, chasing after her.

Phoebe didn’t turn around, she kept on moving. She didn’t want to listen or talk to Sibella or Monty at this point. She wanted them both to leave her alone.

She pushed the front door open and ran outside into the storm.

  “Phoebe, come back!” cried Monty desperately.

The rain fell down in sheets around her and the lightning lit up the sky.

After a moment of slight hesitation, Sibella and Monty ran outside after her, following her in the dimly lit night.

The streets of the town were empty as they ran through it, the pavement deserted in the late hours of the night.

Phoebe didn’t stop until she reached the town’s graveyard, Sibella and Monty right on her trail.

She ended up falling on her knees in front of her family’s tomb, the lightning showing the family name as Sibella and Monty finally caught up to her. Her shoulders were shaking with sobs as she kneeled there in front of her family’s tomb.

They were all drenched, their clothes sticking to their bodies, the cold feeling of the rain was numbing.

  “Phoebe, come back inside, you’re going to catch your death!” yelled Sibella, trying to be heard over the loud rumbles of thunder and snaps of lightning, coupled with the wind whirling around them.

  “He killed them, he killed my entire family!” Phoebe cried, not looking at either of Sibella or Monty, her eyes on her family’s crypt. “How can you ask me to come back to him?”

  “Phoebe, darling, you have every right to be angry but you can’t do anything to avenge them now,” Sibella shouted. “It’s no use to hate Monty now.”

Phoebe shook her head, “I don’t care. I hate him!”

  “Phoebe, Phoebe please,” begged Monty, his voice loud and clear though still upset. “I love you, please don’t do this. Come back inside the house.”

  “I never want to see you again, Montague Navarro,” Phoebe shrieked as she whipped her head around and glared murderously at Monty.

  “Phoebe,” Monty took a hesitant step towards her, “Phoebe, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. Can we please talk about this inside?” he begged her.

Phoebe remained unwilling.

Sibella stepped towards the brunette.

  “Phoebe, we need to go back inside. You need to forgive Monty. You love him. I know you do. But I know you loved your brother, and Monty can’t change the fact that he did kill your family. But you need to forgive him because Monty makes you so happy, I know he does. He loves you, and he cares for you.”

  “How can I still love him when I know he’s killed before?” Phoebe yelled, tears falling down her face as they mixed in with the raindrops falling on them.

  “You still love me and you know I’ve killed before,” pointed out the blonde softly.

  “That’s different,” moaned Phoebe, glancing at the crypt.

  “I know, but the principle is the same. Phoebe, please, you’re going to get sick if you stay out here any longer,” Sibella begged.

Phoebe glanced back at her and then at the crypt before burying her face into her hands and sobbing.

It was then that Sibella heard something crack behind Phoebe. Her eyes shot up and she saw a pair of eyes staring at Phoebe from a few feet away.

Sibella felt her heart stop in that instant. If her blood was still coursing through her veins, it would have gone cold.

Time seemed to stand still in that moment, and Sibella waited for the worse to happen.

Before she could do or say anything, the figure hiding in the shadows emerged just as a flash of lightning nearly blinded them all, and attacked Phoebe.

A scream pierced through the night.

The figure was in a dark cloak, with his face hidden as he sucked on Phoebe’s blood, his fangs in her throat.

Phoebe slumped into a heap as the vampire sucked on her blood, draining her of her life source.

  “Phoebe, no!” cried Sibella in horror at the fact that Phoebe was being attacked, and the vampire looked up at Sibella’s cry.

He seemed to recognize her, at least his face gave way that he remembered her. He gave her a sadistic grin, his mouth stained with blood, before he dropped Phoebe to the ground and vanished without a word.

Sibella rushed to Phoebe’s side, whereas Monty stood in the rain, shocked and stunned before he moved and went to Phoebe’s other side.

The brunette laid there on the ground, her throat punctured with two holes, blood spilling from the wounds, trickling down her pale skin. She was still breathing, but barely. Every breath she took seemed agonized and painful for her.

Sibella glanced around for Phoebe’s attacker, wanting to confront him since she knew that he was the one who had attacked herself, but he was nowhere to be found.

The rain washed some of the blood off of Phoebe’s throat but then more would spill out of her. She was bleeding out quickly.

  “We have to get her back home,” Sibella uttered to Monty as she attempted to stop the bleeding by covering the wound with her hands.

  “Monty, we have to go before he comes back,” Sibella shouted as thunder rumbled in the sky.

Monty looked up at her, haunted.  He looked terrified; of what had happened and what could happen to Phoebe. He looked afraid and Sibella didn’t blame him.

  “Monty, we have to go now,” Sibella begged, taking one of his hands and meeting his eyes. “If we leave now, maybe we can save her,” It was a half lie but Sibella couldn’t bear the thought of losing Phoebe to the monster that had destroyed her life.

Sibella knew that there was little to no hope of saving Phoebe. The brunette’s fate was either one of death or of becoming a vampire and suffering the rest of eternity like Sibella.

 Eventually Monty nodded numbly, and seemed to finally hear Sibella. He knelt down and picked Phoebe up gently, holding her in his arms.

They raced back to the house, with the storm intensifying around them, and didn’t look back.

 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen:

  “Take her to the bedroom!” commanded Sibella as they raced back inside, “I’ll be right there.”

She then disappeared into the bathroom to grab some gauze and other materials she needed.

Monty took Phoebe upstairs, his heart beating fast. He laid Phoebe down on the bed, and gripped her hands tightly.

  “You’re going to be alright, Phoebe, you’re going to be just fine,” he whispered to her while tears rolled down his cheeks, even though he wasn’t sure that she would be.

Phoebe’s eyes fluttered open as she took long, agonizing breaths.

  “M-m-Monty,” she croaked, “I-I forgive you.”

He kissed her lips as one hand cupped her cheek.

  “Thank you, my darling. Your forgiveness was all I’ve ever wanted,” said Monty once he pulled away.

She tried to smile at him but she found that she was too weak and into much pain to do so.

Sibella came in, looking flustered and nervous. She rushed to Phoebe’s side and inspected the wound once more.

Sibella knew just by looking at the wound what would happen to Phoebe. She knew that soon she would turn into a vampire, just like what had happened to Sibella.

  “Monty…” Sibella got out as Phoebe slipped into unconsciousness, “She’s… she’s going to turn into a vampire if this continues…”

  “So… so we’ll have two vampires around the house?” Monty tried to wrap his head around what she was insinuating but then he saw the look that flashed upon Sibella’s pale face.

  “Sibella, you can’t,” he protested.

She looked down at the mattress, ashamed and guilty.

  “She’s going to die anyways, at least I’ll let her go quickly,” she snapped back at him.

 Monty couldn’t move, he was stunned into place by her words.

  “It’s either that or she becomes a vampire, Monty! At least if I kill her she won’t suffer like I am,” Sibella told him softly.

Monty looked to Phoebe, who was getting paler and paler by the second, her breathing growing shallow. He didn’t want her to suffer like Sibella was, and yet he didn’t want to lose her.

But was it worth it? Was it worth having her become a vampire to fuel his own selfish needs and wants? And once he was gone, what was she to do? What if he died suddenly and neither Sibella nor Phoebe could bring him back as a vampire? They would be alone.

But at least they would be together, he thought. He glanced at Sibella’s face, it was grave and serious. She knew better than anyone what would happen if Phoebe became a vampire. Monty knew that he should trust her and listen to her advice.

  “I can’t just let her die, Sibella,” he croaked out.

  “You have to, Monty,” urged Sibella, taking his hands. Monty turned his head away from her, tears slipping down his cheeks, “This life as an immortal isn’t worth living, it’s not beautiful or exciting; it’s a punishment, a cruel and unjust one. I won’t subject Phoebe to such a life,” threatened Sibella in a low voice.

Monty looked at her, her eyes glittered hard, the pain and torment she felt from becoming a vampire was reflected in her eyes. He knew that she had suffered greatly by becoming a vampire, that she had battled with her morals and her new lifestyle.

 Monty took a breath.

  “Don’t let her suffer. I don’t want her to be in any pain,” he told Sibella.

Sibella nodded seriously. “I promise, I won’t.”

Monty then leaned down and kissed Phoebe’s lips gently as tears fell down his face onto her cheeks.

When Monty moved out of her way, Sibella sat next to Phoebe. She stared at her for a moment and then took a deep breath, leaning towards Phoebe’s throat.

  “I… I am so sorry,” she whispered in Phoebe’s ear before she bit into her neck, killing her.

 

* * *

 

 

Monty’s silence and undeniable anger towards her was justified in every way possible, but it still hurt that every-time Sibella tried to comfort him, he flinched away from her and moved away. He refused to speak with her, let alone listen to her or look at her.

His grief had made him cold and angry towards Sibella.

They buried Phoebe in the backyard in her garden, where she would have wanted to have been buried. The ceremony was short, with just the two of them there to witness it. Neither of them spoke, they couldn’t bring themselves to. They stood there, dressed in black clothes as the stars twinkled above them.

Sibella spent the entire funeral wringing her hands together and glancing at Monty, whereas Monty kept his eyes on Phoebe’s grave, never once looking at Sibella.

As they walked back into the house, it was silent between them.

Tension hung in the air between them. Sibella stole a glance at Monty’s face, it was rigid and pale, whereas hers was upset and remorseful.

She knew he hated her for killing Phoebe, for taking her life away when she could have lived as a vampire. Sibella knew that Monty wanted nothing to do with her right not but she stayed anyways. She had no one left to go back to besides him.

  “Monty…” she started, taking a step towards him, but he just walked faster in the house and slammed the door in her face.

After a moment, she opened the door and followed him to where he sat in the parlor. She gently sat down next to him, and without saying a word, reached for one of his hands.

He cringed at her touch, and pulled his hand out of her reach, his fingers trembling just a bit.

  “I’m going to go lie down, I’m not feeling too well,” he announced suddenly, nearly bolting upright from the couch.

Sibella let him go and sat on the couch for a bit before going to check on him. She peeked into his room and saw him on the bed.

She went over and felt his forehead lightly. It was searing hot.

Sibella frowned and became concerned.

  “Monty, you have a fever,” she exclaimed.

  “No, no I’m fine,” he murmured, shaking his head.

He opened his eyes and he relented at her gaze, “Alright… maybe I’m not okay.”

  “Get some rest please,” she told him softly, kissing his forehead.

He nodded and fell asleep while she watched over him.

As the night wore on, he got worse. His fever spiked and he started coughing. Sibella dutifully watched over him, trying to ease his suffering with damp cloths and medicine, but nothing seemed to work.

  “I miss her,” Monty whispered quietly with a cough.

Sibella looked up and paused, lowering the damp cloth she held in her hands at his words. He hadn’t spoken to her in days, she had almost forgotten what his voice had sounded like. Though, his voice was frail and sickly now.

 “I know…. I know you do. I miss her too,” she told him softly.

  “I miss her so much,” he croaked out.

  “I know. But she’s gone now, Monty,” Sibella reminded him.

Monty’s face crumbled as if he had forgotten that fact, and he turned over in the bed and fell asleep without another word.

 

* * *

 

Days passed by and Monty wasn’t getting any better. It was a stressful situation with Monty becoming sicker and sicker as the days went by, and with Sibella spending every waking moment taking care of Monty.

Sibella stayed by his side, not wanting to leave him even for a few seconds. She hadn’t fed in days and she was growing weak and aggravated.  Neither of them had changed their clothes from the funeral, a few days ago. They were both still dressed in black.

Monty’s coughing grew worse and Sibella began to seriously worry about him.

  “Monty, darling, I think you should go to a doctor,” she urged him softly, “You’re not getting any better.”

  “No,” Monty replied stubbornly. “If I’m going to die, so be it.”

His reply felt like a stab in Sibella’s heart.

  “Monty…”

  “There’s no point in living without Phoebe,” he murmured.

  “I shouldn’t have killed her, I’m sorry,” apologized Sibella, running a hand over his forehead.

He shook his head, “Don’t say that. You were giving her peace.”

Sibella looked at him, and leaned forward after a moment, pressing her lips to his.

She pulled away after a while, and she cupped his cheek tenderly. He doesn’t flinch or pull away and for that she was glad.

  “Monty…” she started but he cut her off.

  “You’re going to be all alone,” he said to her after he calmed down from a coughing fit.

  His words hit her hard, but she knew that they were true.

  “I know,” she put on a brave face for him, “Don’t worry about me Monty. I can take care of myself.”

  “I feel sorry for you, you’ll never have any peace.”

She nodded again. “I know. I could decapitate myself, but there’s no guarantee that I’d actually die by that. Most of the facts we found were from fictional sources, remember?”

Monty’s face softened, and she kissed him again.

  “At least I saved Phoebe from this fate,” she whispered as her lips brushed against his as she pulled away.

  “But who’s going to save you?”

  “I told you, don’t worry about me.”

  “I can’t help it,” Monty argued, “I don’t want you to be alone.”

  “Monty, stop, don’t stress yourself. I’ll be alright,” she reassured him.

Monty doesn’t look convinced, but the stress and weight of his sickness wore on him and he felt as if he had no more energy to fight with her and he fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

A few hours later, Monty was still sleeping while Sibella was laying on his chest, listening to him breathe when suddenly he called out her name.

Sibella sat up, wearily, and looked at him, “What is it, my love?”

Her eyes looked into his and she can tell that he is fading away from her. He doesn’t have much time left.

  “Monty…” she started softly, trying to inquire into what he wanted.

  “Please Sibella… please,” he begged.

 Sibella caught his drift. She sat back on the bed, her face grave. She could see it in his eyes that he wanted her to bite him, that he wanted to become a vampire.

  “No, I won’t.” Her voice trembled at the thought.

  “I don’t want to leave you alone… if you just bite me Sibella…” he pleaded.

  “No,” Sibella snapped harshly. “No, I won’t do that to you.”

The blonde started to sob, her shoulders shaking with sadness.

  “I’d rather lose you than condemn you to a life like mine,” she cried.

Monty grew quiet for a moment.

  “What will you do... once I’m gone then?”

  “I’ll go away and live out the rest of my life in solitude, like a monster like me deserves,” said Sibella bitterly.

Monty cupped her cheek tenderly.

  “You are _not_ a monster, Sibella. You’re not, and never forget that,” he told her in a stern voice.

Sibella’s eyes watered and she kissed him fiercely after that.

  “I love you so much,” she sobbed, her fingers intertwining in his hair, grasping it, wanting to hold onto him forever.

  “I love you too,” he murmured.

He traced the side of her face with his hand and kissed her again.

  “Sibella…” he whispered, his tone pleading.

She bit her lip hard, and nodded, tears shining in her eyes, she knew what he was asking her to do.

  She took a moment to summon her strength with tears falling from her eyes.

  “I promise it’ll be quick,” she choked out, “I promise I won’t let you suffer.”

  “I know you won’t,” Monty took her hand, “I trust you.”

  “I love you,” Sibella sobbed, kissing his hand and then kissing all over his face.

  “I love you too,” Monty replied softly, earnestly. “I’ve always loved you. You and Phoebe were my two girls.”

Sibella cried even harder at that, “We loved you, we both did.”

  “Promise me you won’t waste away,” he begged her, “Promise me you won’t lock yourself away because we’re both gone.”

  “I can’t promise anything, my love, you know that. You and Phoebe were both my world,” she admitted, “and I’m losing both of you.”

  “I could kill you, you know… I could do it right now and then I would die, and we would all be together,” he offered, wanting to make her happy. “I could stake you right now and be done with it.”

Sibella shook her head, tears slipping down her cheeks.

  “No, no you’re far too weak to do that.  It’s too late for that now,” she whispered.

  “It’s not though, Sibella. You’re just too hard on yourself. You’re not a monster and you don’t deserve to live out the rest of your life alone and as a vampire,” Monty croaked out.

  “You can’t change my mind now,” she said softly, “I won’t let you kill me. You couldn’t do it anyways, you’d be too distraught.”

  “I don’t want to leave you behind,” he protested, “I could do it, if it meant that we could be together. Please Sibella…”

She kissed his lips softly, “No. I won’t let you.”

Monty sighed, too sick to fight with her anymore.

  “You were always so stubborn,” he remarked to her.

  “So were you,” replied the blonde, smiling just a bit.

Monty looked up at her and took her hand.

  “I love you, Sibella Hallward,” he murmured.

  “And I love you, Monty Navarro,” she whispered.

She kissed him once last time, relishing the taste of his lips before she positioned her fangs near his throat.

Her tears fell onto his skin as she paused before piercing his throat with her teeth.

Monty stiffened at the pain and Sibella could hear him struggling to breathe as she drained him of his blood. His body stopped resisting quickly as she finished him off and she felt his heart stop.

Sibella pulled away from his throat, tears still streaming down her face as she looked upon him. He was cold to the touch, and when she laid her head on his chest, she could hear nothing.

After she cried over his body for a while, she buried him in the backyard, sobbing as she lowered him into the ground.

When she was done, she went back into the house and gathered up the belongings that she wanted to keep with her.

She knew she looked a fright, with her body still dressing in her mourning outfit for Phoebe, her hair a mess, her eyes bloodshot from crying, but none of that mattered.

She packed up Monty’s memoirs, Phoebe’s flowers, Phoebe’s copy of Dracula, and a few other items.

When the next night fell, she went to the graveyard where she was buried and opened her crypt.

Sibella placed her bag on the stone floor of the crypt, and glanced at the night sky around her for the last time.

The moonlight glittered on her skin as she stood out in the night sky, taking it all in before she was going to lock herself away in her crypt for the rest of eternity.

She knew what she was doing by locking herself away. She knew that she would eventually starve herself, that she would grow weak from her lack of feeding, that she would suffer horribly but she didn’t care. There was nothing left for her here, nothing at all.

She was glad that Monty and Phoebe were at peace, glad that they were together. And she knew that once she was locked away that no one else would be hurt, that no one else would die because of her.

Sibella stepped out of the entranceway of the crypt and paused as she looked down.

There on the ground was a simple rose, a beautiful crimson rose. Sibella knelt down and picked it up, plucking it from the ground and holding it tenderly. She smelled it and smiled at its familiar and soothing scent.

Sibella took one last look around before turning back towards her crypt.

As she closed the door and began to lock it, she smelled the rose again and knew that no matter what Phoebe and Monty would always be with her, even in death.

And so, Sibella spent the rest of eternity locked away, with only her memories and a few tokens that reminded her of Phoebe and Monty.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of your support! I hope you all enjoyed the ending, though I know it wasn't a happy one per-say. See you guys next time!


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